Sirens and Sparrowkeets
by Madness-and-Corona
Summary: After years missing, Azula is presumed dead. That is, until Ty Lee arrives at the palace carrying an unexpected package.
1. Foolish Games

_Despite misfortune and circumstance, destiny is flexible_ , was the first line of a very boring book Princess Azula once read.

She recalled nothing of the rest of the textbook, although her tutor told her to take a break after every single chapter to _reflect_ upon the _wisdom_. That break was usually spent thinking about anything but what she had forgotten immediately after reading. She did, however, always remember that one opening line, since it made the book seem like it was going to be much more interesting than it was.

Azula was years away from that small girl frustrated by her royal lessons. Now she was a small _woman_ frustrated by her _life_ lessons. Despite all of that, she was slumped in the same chair, in the same dusty and rarely attended-to library in the palace.

It had been nearing fourteen years since she had been home, and at the precipice of twenty-eight, she was now wondering what her life would have been like if she had stayed. The palace smelled _wrong_ , it felt _different_ , her brother was married to her ex-girlfriend and she was treated like a ghost or walking corpse.

They did declare her legally dead, after all, but _really_...

She was looking for something suitable to read to an eight year old, and while Azula at that age read philosophers, works of generals and dull history books, she did not think that it would be the most appealing to a child she was trying to win over.

What book said _cool aunt_? Azula never had one of those, but she knew of their existence.

Agni, she should have bought that candy she decided against.

She heard footsteps behind her and clenched her jaw. The inhabitants of the palace _acted_ as if Azula was unaware that eyes were perpetually on her. It was not cute for a second.

"Are you reading?" Zuko asked openly and Azula rolled her eyes.

"No. I'm just holding open this book to shield my knees from the ceiling's inevitable attack." Azula did not know what she had gotten herself into this time.

Zuko did not seem to take offense, as she had hoped, but he still cleared his throat and justified his statement. "Well, you're kind of just staring at it blankly."

Azula slammed it shut and forced herself not to audibly choke on the dust that burst from it.

"It's boring and I hate it. I'm going to find another. We must have some with pictures, right? You can only read books with pictures, I'm sure..." Azula said thoughtfully, tossing the book down and listening to the feeble, unsatisfying _thud_.

She went to the shelves to select a more child friendly book as Zuko watched his new houseguest warily.

* * *

Eight years before the resurrected Princess Azula was coughing on dust in the palace library, Ty Lee's life decided to take an abrupt turn for the complicated.

Now, if Ty Lee did not have the evidence of how she went from a careless warrior with delayed adolescence to a mother and exposed possible-traitor-is-she-treasonous-or-just-stupid-probably-stupid, no one would have believed her. In fact, she probably would not have believed herself.

It was not incredulous due to the fact that Azula had been deemed dead for about four to five years, or the fact that she _wasn't_ dead, which was not much of a shocker given the nature of Princess Azula; it was the fact that Ty Lee was the one who knew, and that Ty Lee ─ who could not keep a secret to save her life ─ had kept this concealed for nearly three years.

She had been receiving a series of notes, Ty Lee was forced to explain. They began as cryptic and frustrating clues, but soon just became hidden meeting places. Well, yes, she could have so easily been murdered, her body never found, _but_ , the truth was, it felt like a bandage on the wounds Azula left.

These meet-ups, solely fixated on the physical, made it all forgettable.

Made any feelings easy to neglect, and emotional carnage swept aside as they remedied distance by brief, feverish closeness.

It was a game to Azula, and one that Ty Lee secretly enjoyed playing. There was no explanation other than some kind of weird, sick and treasonous pleasure they both had.

And it _did_ spark the question of who was really crazy. The one who fled an asylum or the one who fucks her in secret? The one who hallucinates or the one who contentedly chases her abusive ex-girlfriend? It was pretty clear, but not to Ty Lee at the time.

The first note was one that _definitely_ should have been ignored or presented to the authorities. Ty Lee found it while out on one of the trillion Kyoshi Warrior patrols (she asked to go on every single one, due to a painful amount of boredom).

It was passages from an old Fire Nation story, that was certain, and from a torn out book of aged parchment. Ty Lee knew it was ridiculous to follow it, but she was intrigued, and was _not_ as dumb as she liked to look. They progressively became more and more clear as she followed them on the most absurd, sexual and risky scavenger hunt in history.

She _definitely_ should have stopped when she reached the last one, which was tucked into the weathered box of maps outside of a hiking trail near an Earth Kingdom mountain ridge. It had the instructions: _Meet me in the middle of the forest off of the secondary path where no one can see us._

Only a total idiot would follow it, but while the other clues had not been quite clear, and Ty Lee had several friends and enemies dancing in her mind, she heard this one clearly and crisply in one voice. Despite her anger and hurt, no one could blame her for wanting to investigate. For wanting to catch a glimpse or see if it was true.

Azula _was_ there, and nobody died, even though there was definitely some shouting and confusion, and then some sex and more anger and shouting and confusion, and there was really not much _talking_ about their problems, as Ty Lee had been planning as she walked to her destination.

They parted ways without even a thank you. And Ty Lee was grateful for that.

Then it repeated. Ty Lee was aggravated, yet excited and she could not kid herself into pretending that illicit, sexy notes were not _fun_. And she was getting very good at swallowing any emotional carnage and letting it be _almost_ without strings attached.

Maybe it was a fantasy of some perverse kind. Ty Lee probably should have told someone, and Azula probably should not have gotten progressively more reckless in how obvious her notes were. Maybe she wanted to get caught. Maybe Ty Lee did too.

All the same, they said nothing of their past, did not think of their future, and just acted on impulse.

It was the sixth note that changed all of that.

Ty Lee had, at this point, set up an actual life for herself. That wanderlust and endless juvenescence came to an end, she left being a warrior, neglected staying on the island, and decided to make a life of her own in the Earth Kingdom, very far away from any life she had ever known. She settled in the sleepiest, most untouched by the outside world town she could find, and was content there.

Until the sixth note came.

That sixth note was the one that ended with Ty Lee staring at a baby in a makeshift cradle consisting of a yanked out dresser drawer. Azula was still in her house, and there was no physical portion of the tryst. Just awkward, stilted conversation and not _nearly_ enough explanation.

There was no _trust_ in their relationship. It was one of Azula's many twisted games that Ty Lee had to pretend she did not enjoy playing.

Games were not supposed to end with newborn babies in your kimono drawer.

"A-Azula," Ty Lee at last stammered out, knowing she was perfectly fine with Azula going to sleep in her room, given the fact she showed up with a _baby_ , but that _baby_ was beginning to make noises and wake up. " _Azula_!"

Ty Lee thought for a moment that the princess actually _was_ dead, and so she sprung up despite the baby now definitely with its golden eyes open. She threw open the door to her own bedroom, and _of course_ , of course, and Ty Lee could have laughed.

 _Classic her._

Surprisingly, for the first time in her entire affair with a war criminal and horrid ex-girlfriend, she felt ridiculous. Of course, the window was open, and Azula was gone, without saying goodbye or giving instructions or even telling Ty Lee what the baby's name was. Or where it came from!

It was clearly not stolen or purchased, judging by the very distinct royal features. And it was a girl, and it was not wailing hysterically yet, so Ty Lee thought she had a decent amount of time before it began to die for some reason.

 _Oh, yes, let me completely just_ give my baby _to my enemy-with-benefits. How logical!_

Ty Lee rubbed her neck and tried to figure out what was supposed to happen next. She did not know much about babies, to be perfectly honest. It was not ever her area of her expertise, and she did not think that it ever would be.

And so, Ty Lee quickly left her house in her sleepy village, before doubling back inside and realizing she _forgot the baby_. Okay, and so, Ty Lee grabbed the baby ─ _her_ baby, at this point ─ and walked as quickly as she could over to her neighbor's house.

Song was the town healer, and had four children of her own. And, being a healer, she took care of the majority of the babies born here. Ty Lee knocked on the door, despite the fact that it was the middle of the night and she was not at _all_ sure how she was supposed to explain this.

It took a few breathless minutes, but, at last, Song opened the door, rubbing one of her dark eyes.

"Are you okay?" she asked at first, sniffing and clearing her throat. Then she glanced down, exactly how Ty Lee did when she realized what Azula was carrying, and made a very strange face. "Is that...?"

Song clearly decided not to ask, which Ty Lee was grateful for.

Ty Lee instantly began wailing out her question without a second thought. "I don't know what to do. I've never even done more than held a baby for a couple of minutes! I don't even know anyone with babies," Ty Lee said, tripping over her own words as Song tried to get her to come inside.

"It's okay," slowly said the healer, although her eyes had a nervous glint. "I'll help you."

And a good deal of help Ty Lee needed.

* * *

The first week was the most difficult, and Ty Lee had an uncomfortable amount of help from nosy women in her village. They always did murmur about her in their sewing circles, because she was that strange soldier girl who showed up and had the menagerie of famous friends.

But now they had plenty more to talk about. Like her having _hid_ a pregnancy, or those _odd_ golden eyes. If she had a beaux or was a _mistress_ of some Fire Nation ex-general. Ty Lee allowed them to talk, because they preferred their own assumptions and stories over the truth.

The truth that could get Ty Lee put on trial for treason, or at least being an accomplice to Azula, even if she would never be sentenced to anything.

"I don't know what to name her," Ty Lee asked Song as she stared at the baby. It was cute, when it was not crying constantly. Ty Lee looked horrible and had been wearing the same braid since they day she _got_ her _doorstep baby_. "It's not easy, huh?"

"You really have nothing in mind?" Song asked before her lips formed a small ' _O'_ in apology. "Well, how about give her a nickname for now?"

Ty Lee bit her lip, and it suddenly came in a very convenient manner that was stranger than fiction.

Only two things silenced and calmed the baby girl. Being held over open flames ─ which Ty Lee could not bring herself to do very easily ─ and the singing of one of Song's songbirds. Her sparrowkeet, to be specific.

"Sparrowkeet is cute." Ty Lee grinned for the first time in a week.

Song could not hide her cringe, but Ty Lee got used to it and refused to back down.

* * *

As soon as the panic settled and Ty Lee got the hang of making sure a small, dependent human did not die in her care, she knew some form of step had to be taken. And that step was evident, despite how it made her chest constrict and her head hurt.

It was after that decision was made that she was in Caldera again after a long time apart. She felt like she was coming home, even if she had a lot of happy places to live over the past decade. The baby attracted tons of attention and even though it was positive, Ty Lee only felt more and more dread building up inside of her as she walked to the palace and was invited inside.

"Fire Lord Zuko is expecting you," said a guard Ty Lee did not recognize.

Before she could thank him, he was gone, and Ty Lee was abandoned to try to find her way.

She walked for a while, struck again and again by memories of this place like a barrage of arrows piercing her skin. At last, she managed to find her way to Zuko. He was sitting with the sun shining on him a he examined the brunch he had set up.

Ty Lee frowned faintly. He must be pretty lonely, stuck here.

"I'm so glad to see you," Ty Lee blurted out, even thought it was only half true.

He stared at her for a moment, seeming uncertain what to do, but then he saw what she was holding.

"Oh, you, had a..." He looked disappointed, and Ty Lee was not sure why.

"I didn't, actually..." Ty Lee's cheeks were bright pink as she walked towards him. The little baby was only two months old, a girl, that Ty Lee still was very uncertain and afraid of. "Do you want to hold her?"

"Yeah," Zuko said without hesitation. He reached out and Ty Lee hoped for the best and expected the worst. When the little girl rested in his arms, he thought she was very cute as he touched her palm and her fingers wrapped around him.

Then her eyes opened and Ty Lee grimaced. "It's not..."

"Is she mine?" was Zuko's first, gasped question.

"No. Why would I have your baby...?" Ty Lee asked and Zuko did slowly nod. Maybe he was not as lonely as she thought. "I need you to give her back to me while I tell you this."

She extended her arms, feeling a little less awkward about holding her, even though that did not help much. Zuko handed the cute little girl over, his expression still one of shock and fear.

"Well, it's a bit of a long story, and it starts with a note I found stuck to a _wall_ of all things..."

* * *

Zuko sat there in utter silence after Ty Lee finished speaking. She did not blame him for that, of course.

"I don't..." Of course he did not know what to say to that; Ty Lee never expected him to. "It's a girl?"

"Yes," Ty Lee said with a sharp nod.

"And it's, _she_ , sorry, is not yours."

"Yes."

"And _she_ , sorry, is the current heir to the Fire Nation," Zuko slowly said and Ty Lee nodded. "Huh."

Ty Lee could have gotten a worse answer, she supposed. "I thought I should probably bring her here."

"Huh. I... _yes_. Probably." Zuko shrugged. "I don't know the protocol for this." He hesitated as Ty Lee saw a thought suddenly come over him. "Where is she? Do you know?"

And Ty Lee shook her head. "I told you that she just left through the window."

Zuko sighed. "I wish I could say that I didn't believe you. But that sounds like classic her."

"That's exactly what I thought!" Ty Lee shouted and then Sparrowkeet rustled in her arms. "What if she starts crying?"

It was then that Zuko saw the panic in her eyes, and knew Ty Lee did not come here out of duty to her nation, or respect for him or Azula, or just to be honest; she came here because she was terrified and had no idea what she was doing.

"What's her name?" Zuko asked, hoping to stem the tears Ty Lee was about to share with the baby.

"Well, Azula didn't tell me her name, but I've been calling her Sparrowkeet because while my singing did not soothe her, my friend's sparrowkeet's singing did. I mean, we could just name her that." Ty Lee shrugged and futilely attempted to smile.

Zuko groaned. "You are not naming the potential heir to the Fire Nation _Sparrowkeet_ , Ty Lee. For the love of Agni."

"Nah, but Princess Sparrowkeet sounds so cute. We could name her after her mother." Ty Lee shrugged, hating that she agreed with him.

Fire Lord Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose to try to quell the headache he felt coming over him. "She's cute and a baby now, but she won't be eventually. And there is no way I'm naming her Azula II."

Ty Lee taps her finger on her lips, deep in thought. "Some kind of something _cute_ , you know, like maybe some kind of, oh, oh, _Fen_. That's cutish... and..."

"I know she's technically yours, but I'm thinking letting you name her is a bad idea." Zuko was already beginning to think this was a bad idea.

"Fine. What's your fancy royal name then, huh?" Ty Lee scoffed at him as Sparrowkeet quieted again.

Zuko sighed. "... I don't actually know. I haven't exactly been thinking about my future children. We could go look at the portraits and find one you like. How's that?"

"Ugh. You win."

* * *

Ty Lee was bored, Sparrowkeet was frustrated, and Zuko's headache was an unstoppable force of pain. The names were impossible to agree on, no matter how far back they went along the portraits. He thought that maybe if he just tired her out she would settle, but he was the one getting tired out.

"Close your eyes and point at one," Zuko suggested and Ty Lee shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess. The name Zuko sucks anyway," Ty Lee said and he did not bother to be offended as she squeezed her eyes shut and pointed.

Zuko rubbed the dust from the tarnished placard and, "Izumi," was declared.


	2. Keep Your Lips Sealed

_**AN:** Thank you so much everyone! I am glowing with excitement and happiness about the response. I'm so, so happy people are enjoying this and I just couldn't stop writing since I posted the last chapter! And I'm already writing Chapter Three. Even though I'm so happy about 30 reviews and all the favorites and follows, I'm not the type of person who would ever ask for a certain amount. I'm writing this because it's something I always wanted to read, but I am **really** happy if people go on the journey with me. :)_

* * *

The first act of Zuko's was digging up anything he could find from his family stock of baby items. They might have been dangerous, and knew he should find someone to examine them at some point, but for now, she needed somewhere safe to rest.

After he took care of that and had Ty Lee's bags taken to the living quarters, and he asked for all of the rooms to be cleaned, since he could barely remember how to blink, much less remember how many rooms were in his house.

Now, the baby was settled, and Zuko and Ty Lee were unsettled.

Izumi, or Sparrowkeet, or _oh Agni what was Zuko supposed to do about this_ , was staring at her uncle from the cradle he found her. He thought it was Lu Ten's, maybe Azula's?

She was cute. Definitely cute, and _definitely_ either his, his sister's, his father's or his uncle's. Given that Ty Lee was the one who showed up with her, father was in prison very far from the Earth Kingdom and Zuko _refused_ to think about Uncle making a baby, he settled just fine with the Azula explanation.

Even if it was a shady story, Ty Lee was not the type to tell a decent lie.

Zuko used to think that Azula might have been one of those rumored Volcano Spirit babies. They were evil spirits that were responsible for deadly eruptions and other calamities, and also would breed with human women, and it would result in beautiful babies that would win over the powerful.

Yes.

They were cute and untouchable. And showed no signs of human life until at least seven years old.

Yes. Okay, well, maybe she had a _heartbeat_ , but it could have been _metaphorical_.

And they would grow up to be _very_ persuasive, to the point of toppling empires.

Yes. Those _exact words._

Tell Zuko that he was crazy like mother did as she laughed at him and his silly overactive imagination. There was no ruling out that Azula was half evil Volcano Spirit, and maybe her baby was too.

No matter what the situation, Zuko clearly had a baby on his hands, no matter which way you sliced it.

"Are you gonna put me on trial?" Ty Lee whispered and Zuko suddenly noticed that _she_ was also staring at him.

They were _both_ staring at him, and it was actually pretty creepy.

"I didn't even, that didn't occur to me," Zuko remarked as he came to the realization that Ty Lee _had_ been consorting with a war criminal and the most wanted person in the world. "No one would convict you, you know? It doesn't matter."

Ty Lee blinked and nodded, and then let out a very wispy sigh. Zuko joined her at the last minute, although with a pained groan. They both stared for a moment, neither sure what they were supposed to do as the baby watched, alert, completely unaware of the problem she poses.

 _No_ , Zuko thought, _she's a baby, not a problem_.

Izumi was his niece, and he was going to give her all he could. Maybe Azula was not just trying to shrug off her mistake on her very gullible plaything; maybe she actually wanted to give the newborn more than a fugitive could offer.

Well, that was not at all the Azula that Zuko knew, but it was the Azula that Zuko liked to imagine existed somewhere beneath the metal creature Ozai created.

"We obviously can't go around telling everybody she's Azula's. They might convict _her_ ," Ty Lee said shrilly and while Zuko thought it was an exaggeration, he also did know that it would not do the baby any favors.

"Say she's yours," Zuko dared to suggest. He knew Ty Lee probably had already come to that conclusion, even if she would play dumb until he was the one who said it. "And mine. It wouldn't surprise anyone, believe me. Or at least after they got over a brief shock."

"Right," Ty Lee said quietly. She swallowed. "Right, right."

That implied a lot about the future, and _their_ potential future, but neither wanted to discuss it.

"When's the last time you talked to anyone we know mutually?" Zuko asked slowly and Ty Lee thought he was either referencing Mai or Suki, but given the fact she was skirting lightly around the fact that she was fucking Azula in the _woods_ for a few years, it was fair enough.

"Over a year, I think. Save for letters." Ty Lee nodded once. "I was trying to start over in my small town, you know? I was going to see you guys again but you ─ _ohhh_ , you mean could anyone say I wasn't pregnant? No. It's very, very believable."

"Good," Zuko said, and he never thought that would be the response to be faking getting a girl pregnant out of wedlock.

Ty Lee licked her lips, a little nervously, and Zuko's stomach did a back flip.

"Why are you doing this for me?" Ty Lee whispered. "You don't have to do this for me, Zuko."

"I know," he said honestly. "But it's the right thing to do, and I like to think that maybe my sister does have a heart instead of some kind of vacant, spiraling abyss of darkness, and wanted better for her than she could do."

"She could've come home," Ty Lee said so viciously that she recoiled in her seat at her own words.

Ty Lee felt naked and exposed, feelings she was so talented at hiding now revealed. No, it was _strictly sexual,_ purely fun and games. There was not a single speck of romance and it cauterized any emotional wounds.

But maybe they were too deep to heal that easily.

"Yeah, but _you_ just asked me if I was going to put you on trial for..." Zuko found he definitely could not say that. " _Kissing_ her." That probably sounded worse, kind of like a ten year old. "I would be afraid too. I really hate to say this, but I'm glad she's alive."

Ty Lee wrung her hands and then her Sparrowkeet started making little noises that demanded attention.

"Well, I'm not so good at this yet," Ty Lee admitted as she began to examine the little one in her cradle. "But I can teach you what I know."

"I _do_ have a mother, and some friends who have kids."

And so, Zuko realized, it was time for an announcement of Zuko's secret affair, a baby shower, a probable marriage engagement he was not going to bring up to Ty Lee until she looked less frazzled, an eventual wedding and...

The gross, cold, tactical, Fire Lord Zuko knew...

A funeral too.

* * *

Just like Ty Lee's first night with Izumi, Zuko's was the hardest too.

She was not quite as loud in the night as she was when Ty Lee first got her and had no idea what had even happened. Zuko was in as much of a shock, but he did manage.

They talked, mostly. They began with simple chatter about life after they lost regular contact.

Then it moved to nostalgia, but none of their happy memories lined up as well as they would have liked them to.

At last, they did discuss Izumi.

"Why are you offering this? I only came to let you know, and call me racist or awful but I think the Fire Nation is the only place I want to raise my- _a_ child," Ty Lee said honestly, her voice so sweet, girlish, innocent.

She was exactly the type of person Azula would like to play with. Zuko saw how Azula looked at her though, and there were expressions that did not line up so well with his childhood accusations of her being an evil supernatural being.

Azula felt for Ty Lee.

Ty Lee felt for Azula.

That was why, Zuko knew, even if Ty Lee was not responsible, Azula did this to her. It would be a pointless act of spite; they both knew Azula could think of much better things. But they knew that they would probably never have a chance to ask her.

Even though Ty Lee had many dreams of her that were so vivid. Her dreams of Azula were quite rare, and many of them _erotic_. Missing her was impossible once she tricked her mind into believing their pretend game.

Now it was very tangible.

"I am offering," Zuko said slowly, and they both were torn from silent contemplation. "I am offering because it's the right thing to do. Izumi is my family, okay? Let's say you got knocked up by Azula's demon powers." He hoped Ty Lee would laugh, but she was gazing at him expectantly and listening intently. "It's my family. My uncle raised me after I got stranded. It's natural that I would do the same."

"But calling her yours..."

"No. I would never do that in another situation. But we both know that this is the best and easiest thing to do. That baby is pretty new, and I think I am panicking out of my mind because I have nothing to base fatherhood on and am pretty sure I have already somehow traumatized her, but I'm going to do whatever I can to be a really good dad. The _first_ good dad in my family to that little Sparrowkid."

Ty Lee smiled.

Zuko _did_ mean that. It was the most natural thing in the world for him to spare any more suffering in his family.

Maybe Azula meant that too, but he doubted her ever having good intentions.

* * *

Thankfully for Zuko and Ty Lee, the first three guests' visits coincided. Mai arrived, Zuko's mother, and Katara.

"So, you sprung this on us, huh?" Katara said, squinting at him. The other two woman were sitting in utter silence already, and Katara was the only one comfortable enough to smash a hammer into it. "Aang is still at one of his meetings, but he cancelled one to come visit. I cleared my afternoon, because I love you that much." Katara then smirked. "Okay... _no_ , I just wanted to see your baby."

She hugged Zuko after rattling all of that out, and then went to take a seat and pour herself the remainder of the pot of tea. Zuko probably should have had more made, but he was honestly only expecting either Katara or Aang to make it on the first day.

"Welcome, to my Surprise Child Out of Wedlock Party," Zuko said, not sure if he should sound sarcastic, enthused or somewhere in between. He came off stilted and uncomfortable, which anyone could expect. "In case you are all wondering, I didn't know until three days ago, or I would have told people. She just showed up."

"How cute is it, on a scale of one to ten?" Mai asked and Zuko was not sure if she was sarcastic either. "I need to know. Ty Lee said that if her baby was anything less than an eight she would leave it somewhere, so I think we should keep on that."

Zuko just squinted for a second. " _No_. When did she say that?"

"Two... three years ago."

"Spirits, I thought you meant when she was twelve."

"I know," Mai replied as if it were not troubling. "When she was twelve she said she would settle for no less than a ten, and she would drown it if it were less than a six, so I think she made some progress."

Zuko nervously glancing over his shoulder was fairly amusing. "Like an eight or nine, probably. She's easily as cute as me. Probably cuter. Have you ever read those stories about those little babies that are half evil spirit and they're super cute so that no one harms them even though they slowly eat your life-force to become powerful and immortal..."

Katara's laughter interrupted him as he realized what he was saying.

"It's okay to be nervous," his mother said quietly. "This could be so much worse."

"I agree," Mai said. "This is easily the best Surprise Child Out of Wedlock Party I've ever been to. And yes, I have heard stories of those evil babies, but you probably don't have too much to worry about as long you don't ever try to harm it and bend to its persuasive will."

"Those aren't real...?" Katara hated that she was asking, but after all of what she had seen in her life, she actually was not sure if they were going to check on this or not.

There were stories about snow children, in Katara's tribe. The Fire Nation's legends probably were more grotesque and violent.

"Oh, yes they are," Mai said as Zuko was distracted by Ty Lee finally arriving with Izumi.

"You're messing with me again."

"I'm not," Mai said very quietly. "Because I am one."

She looked away and Katara sighed.

Ty Lee grinned and decided to say as little as possible.

* * *

A few visits later was Iroh. He was thrilled, and spent most of his time talking to Zuko, and Izumi loved him.

It was the most pleasant visit, at last until Iroh pulled Zuko aside.

"Are you going to marry that girl, nephew?" Iroh demanded in the voice that still kind of scared Zuko. "You'd better."

"I am," Zuko said without hesitation.

Iroh looked at him with eyes that meant he knew more than he wanted to say. Like he looked at Zuko every time he tried to lie. But he said nothing, and Zuko decided it was just paranoia.

Life moved on.

* * *

The succession of people they told moved quickly. Much too quickly, and Ty Lee and Zuko began to have memorized their lines and facial expressions. It was one of the few things they had in common, and the only thing they talked about outside of the care and keeping of Izumi.

One night, though, after two months of madness, belated baby showers and visits from family and friends who pried for details Zuko and Ty Lee made up on the spot and wrote down for later like horrid actors, they were themselves.

It felt weird.

"I have so much old wine and fancy things that I never bothered with. See, people always bring it to me as gifts, and I was never sure how to offer unless I had stuff right on hand, or someone grabbed hard liquor and demanded we do shots," Zuko said as he went and opened a cabinet that Ty Lee assumed held either books or a collection of dead spider-flies.

But it was rather ancient rice wines.

"I feel very fancy and special," Ty Lee said honestly with a grin. She looked weary, as Zuko did too, but she very happy accepted the glass he poured her. "I always hated that we weren't better friends."

Zuko neglected to mention that Ty Lee wanted to be friends with everyone, and that was why, in the end, she wound up friends with no one.

"So, I gave you that fancy wine for a reason."

"I figured," Ty Lee said as she set her crystal glass gently atop her thighs.

"We kind of have to get married."

"Well, I _knew_ that. I thought you just didn't want to talk about it."

"I thought _you_ didn't want to talk about it." Zuko laughed, even though he was not that sure what there was to laugh about. "There is something I _know_ you don't want to talk about. I... I'm a leader and I've had to make some cold decisions by now. Even if sometimes I hate them. If we're going to cover this up all the way..."

Ty Lee cocked her head to the side. She did not understand for a second. So Zuko had to continue, "We've done baby showers, now a wedding... but before the wedding, I think we need to do a funeral."

"Who died?" Ty Lee gasped before it hit her like a _hard_ punch in the face. "You can't do _that_!"

Zuko shook his head. "We have to."

Ty Lee had a thought, though. It was a bad one, it was a destructive one, it was one that could ruin the _one_ actually good thing she was doing for someone.

Azula could not resist her own funeral. Ty Lee could not, and Ty Lee did not have Azula's ego.

"I guess we have to," Ty Lee whispered, and she had gotten pretty good at lying.

* * *

The proposal came first, and it was not the most romantic in history.

 _"They've staged most of these in history,"_ Zuko had explained, and Ty Lee did believe him.

She was certain that they carefully arranged marriages, like Mai narrowly escaped twice, and then pretended it was something cute and romantic. Ty Lee did enjoy the proposal, and, even though she had all of those stupid, stupid dreams that should have died in the Boiling Rock, she did not really care who was clamping gold around her wrist as long as everyone was watching.

The only downside of everyone watching was that they both went in for a kiss, and it turned into a weird hug, _let-me-spread-my-saliva-across-your-cheek-by-accident_ sort of fumble.

But nobody said a cold word.

Well, except for Mai.

* * *

In a muddy town, Azula found the announcement, and felt this acidic and inexplicable rage. Why should she care what Ty Lee did with herself? She was just a whore anyway, and all they had over the past three years was a game Azula liked to play.

Princess Azula enjoyed stringing Ty Lee along, enjoyed the trysts in secret, remorselessly drank in the way that Ty Lee was willing to risk everything just for a taste of Azula's lips. Oh, Azula, Azula who she so _hated_.

 _Hated_ enough to marry _Zuko_.

And Azula should have hated her too. She had every right to, and she thought that she did, despite the sweet, dark, foolish games they played. These, this anger was so far from justified that she did not understand why she had walked away from the crowded bulletin board with the announcement still crumpled in her hand, tightly clasped in it like it held her soul.

When she got back to her home of the week, she pried it from herself and unwrapped it, smoothed it out and then slowly, very slowly, burned it and watched the ashes fall onto her floor, glowing orange for a fleeting second before dying out and blending in with the rest of the dirt.

She did not look for a moment longer at the ashes, because she did not want to acknowledge the fact that she had not felt so betrayed in what felt like an eternity.

Azula tried not to venture out again, but the itch of knowing she must move on struck and struck _hard_.

When she walked out?

She found an announcement that brought her a pleasure far less confusing than the pain of the first one.

It was a _very solemn_ announcement of _her funeral_.

* * *

If the proposal a few weeks ago meant anything, it was quite clear that Ty Lee and Zuko were not going to be making out any time soon. Or possibly any time. But there was a very hesitant kiss that did mean or feel like very much.

But it happened anyway.

They bumped into each other in the hallway. Zuko was just going to bed, and Ty Lee had just finished _at last_ lulling her little Sparrowkeet to sleep. Stepping around each other awkwardly in the very dim lamplight, his hand resting very briefly on her arm. Frozen there for a moment.

The tentative kiss revolved around the face that he reminded her of someone else. And Zuko knew that, he knew that and he tried not to feel bad about it, not to feel the combination between the small, shameful pleasure in stealing something from her for once, but the guilt as well, that Ty Lee deserved better than either of them.

 _"I know you."_ Ty Lee had said so long ago that it felt like a memory from a half-forgotten dream. He thought maybe it was true at the time but it definitely was not anymore.

Ty Lee never remembered saying that, even though she relived that night more often than she had ever admitted. She thought about if, perhaps at some point it all went wrong, or maybe that it was the first time things went right.

"I'm sorry," Ty Lee whispered and he knew, _oh he knew_ that she soon had to admit how deep her feelings ran for Azula.

Izumi probably did not help any of that, and Zuko did not want her for himself. No, he refused to let himself be that kind of fucked up person. But he did pity her.

It must hurt to be in love with a ghost.

 _It hurts just as much,_ Zuko thought, _to be in love with no one at all._

* * *

Ty Lee _knew_ she was right about Azula's funeral, and so she spent days without sleep in her little Sparrowkeet's room drafting just the right note to try to lure Azula. So long as Azula did not _truly_ believe that Ty Lee was somehow in love with Zuko and marrying him, she would have to come.

They would see each other again, and Ty Lee knew just the place.

 _The two are playing outside when they are young. The meadow is so gorgeous, and enough out of sight that they can pretend they are alone, even though eyes never leave Azulon's granddaughter. Their laughter echoes, and Ty Lee knows she is special because she makes Azula laugh._

 _Azula!_

 _Laughing._

 _They are a little older, and they are sparring, play fighting. Laughing. Vicious. Playful insults that just sound like warbled half-remembered slurs. Then they tumble, Ty Lee's back hitting against the rocks concealed in the bright green grass._

 _Azula has her pinned, straddled._

 _That feelings is new._

Ty Lee took a deep breath. _No_. She refused to fall in love with a memory and be a fool like that. She would pour that love into her little Sparrowkeet, but in a much, much healthier way. Ty Lee had love to give, she wanted to nurture Azula, and now Azula had given her that chance.

Of course, Ty Lee had to see her.

At least one last time. She did have the note, and it was torn from something shoved under a poster in her room. Azula would be the only one to recognize its significance, and Ty Lee knew that Azula would mock Ty Lee for being so obtuse about it, but that risk was one Ty Lee was _very_ willing to make.

She smiled and smiled and her little Sparrowkeet loved how happy her... her mother was.

* * *

Azula could not miss her own funeral, of course. There was a part of her that knew it could be a trap, but there was another part of her that knew she was more than capable of going unnoticed. Caldera knew her best, but she knew Caldera best as well.

And nobody, save for those who set the trap, would be on the search for a dead girl, would they? Zuko always was a fool, even if he really did think she was dead.

Oh, would mother cry? Azula had not even thought of that until she found her ideal, secluded and shrouded vantage point. At least six escapes. Good.

She watched with a rapt expression and pleasure in her eyes.

Mother did not cry. Well, Azula thought she liked that better than if mother would have... perhaps...

The service was quite respectful, actually. It was more dignified than Fire Lord Azulon despite the empty pyre. The people, the populace of the Fire Nation were _genuinely_ crying and in true mourning of someone they once loved, which Azula found... both odd and somewhat arousing. She was not quite sure which, but it did heighten her senses for some reason.

Of course, the Azula they remembered was one who marked the end of an era. She was a Fire Nation sweetheart whose disgrace never was public. Zuko had the what Azula later realized was decency, to erase her. After her flame burned its brightest, he quenched it with a pinch of his fingers.

Azula was certainly deserving of _more_ , but she knew she had been beloved more than anyone else, before she became not the _Perfect Princess_ but the _Crazy Princess_. Slowly, Azula receded further into her hiding place as fires burned brighter and songs louder.

Slowly, Azula noticed the only eyes that were looking for someone in the crowd. It was not Zuko, nor the Avatar, nor any of his other friends Azula assumed were springing a very far from clever trap. It was Ty Lee. The only person who could assume Azula was not decomposed in a ditch.

No.

* * *

Ty Lee waited in the meadow for a very long time.

Azula never even found her note.

Neither of them knew what would have happened if Azula _had_ , but maybe they were better off not knowing.

Azula paced as she examined every weak point in the palace she had memorized as a youth. They had only become easier to exploit. Zuko should have been _more_ paranoid than Ozai, but Azula tried not to care.

She did wonder for a long time if she should leave a note. Azula had a half-made one before she decided to leave. Nighttime was more difficult to hide in, she had learned. In the day, everyone had somewhere to go, and the streets were packed.

Again, like always, she vanished.

Ty Lee was not worth it, said the logical part of her.

But the part of her thrilled by her funeral and fixated on how desperately Ty Lee was clearly looking for her (because _only Azula_ could warrant that) thought that maybe she was.

* * *

The wedding came so quickly that Ty Lee barely noticed what was happening. Around her was a whirlwind that she tried to enjoy and savor but could only taste for brief moments without experiencing the bitterness that this was just a _tiny_ bit off from how she had imagined this going.

Her little sparrowkeet took up energy that she could have expended worrying about how ridiculous this marriage of convenience was. It was the most grateful she had been for her surprise and sudden fall into motherhood in a long time, as awful as that felt.

Ty Lee was thinking about somebody else during the wedding, because how could she not be?

Zuko did not deserve this and Ty Lee hated herself for that. They danced, she promised herself that they would have an _amazing_ wedding night to make up for it, but that did not make her feel much better.

"You've done way more for me than you needed to," Ty Lee said as they danced. The Fire Lord who married his secret mistress. "I feel guilty."

"Don't. I'm doing this because it's just _right_ , Ty Lee."

"I don't understand what that means," Ty Lee snapped.

Zuko sighed, unsure how to explain. He saw Izumi, and saw she was his blood. He saw Ty Lee and her pain, and knew she was his friend. Maybe he could chalk some of it up to loneliness. Maybe he could chalk a lot of it up to seeing Izumi's eyes. Maybe he could chalk more of it up to wanting what was _hers_...

No. No. Zuko was doing this because it was the right thing to do. Izumi needed to be provided for, and Ty Lee clearly wanted the best life for the baby she was not prepared for. Uncle would have done it. The fact that, if told it was specifically Azula's, _father_ might have done it, Zuko thought he should not have to explain his actions so often.

"It means what I've said, okay? Don't worry so much."

If only that were possible for either of them.


	3. Interlude: I Follow Rivers

_**AN:** I don't like posting chapters under 3,000 words **ever** , but I was writing this as a oneshot and realized it made much more sense to put it in the story as an interlude instead. Chapter Four is coming this week._

* * *

 **Interlude: Two Years Ago**

Every step Ty Lee took seemed to erase a little more of her logic and sanity, but the destination was worth it.

Ty Lee found it difficult to excuse herself, even though no one cared. No one _knew_ or had any reason to suspect, despite the sweating palms of the Kyoshi Warrior, the way her nerves rattled and her fingers trembled. She was _trustworthy_ for some reason that she would never in her life be able to explain, but she just ran with it.

 _Meet me where the rivers run with gold..._

It was actually significantly less cryptic than usual, and Ty Lee was not sure if that was a good or bad sign. The note took her a while to figure out, particularly since she was not expecting to receive one on this mission. It was in the middle of the heavily wooded and rural Earth Kingdom.

That was not how Ty Lee imagined Azula. She tried her best not to think about the princess, in order to quench the memories as best as she could. But when she did, she imagined some kind of glamorous hiding place, as unlikely as that would be.

Of course, there was a river ─ a small river, but still a river ─ with crystal water and leaves drifting aimlessly in it. It was clear and blue, yes, but it was once panned for gold, as Ty Lee found out after examining the town for hours.

When she was younger, she always _did_ learn something when she was with Azula. The princess just said casual factoids and references, and Ty Lee pretended not to notice, but she did kind of like it.

No, she would not allow those kinds of thoughts. They were not appropriate for the circumstances. As evident by the clues and the total lack of conversation between them, the evasion of mentioning anything that mattered, this was all a game, all entertainment that made no sense to Ty Lee, but she never did understand Azula's games. They always were fun, though, even if they ended in wreckage.

Right now, to be honest, everything just felt like an echo of when Ty Lee thought that their love was true. She stumbled briefly on a rock as she tried not to think about how hollow the concept of this dumb, wicked, sexy game was. But she caught herself as she heard the muted voices of hunters in the distance.

Azula would not like that. She might have run away, and Ty Lee would have missed her chance trying to figure out what the fuck _rivers running with gold_ meant.

But she did not lose Azula. Ty Lee evaded the hunters, and she stood, trying to decide between which fork in the overgrown road she should enter. But she saw bones, the sun-bleached but mud-tainted bones of some kind of wolf-creature, that had been moved.

Ty Lee felt very, very smart for a moment, for noticing that, and she walked down that trail in hopes that she would find what she was looking for. And she did.

It was not a cave, as she was worrying briefly. It _was_ abandoned, at least for now, and the sign in front was a cutesy name of a Fire Nation rental home for _Earth Kingdom rustic charm_ , probably back during the war. Ty Lee did not know if it just was unoccupied or had been deserted after the loss, but she did not care as she opened the dilapidated gate and walked across the overgrown path.

She stood at the door for a moment, wondering if she should knock or not. The wind whipped around her, and even though the forest had been fairly warm, she was suddenly very cold. And the angry river was louder here than anywhere else.

The location was... foreboding. But Ty Lee forgot about that, just like she forgot about logic and inhibition with every step she took, just like she forced herself to forget about how this was a pathetic, nostalgic sham and that there would be no going back to how things were before.

Ty Lee opened the door on her own, and had a moment of fear in which she imagined that Azula was dead in here. But that was ridiculous. That was a _stupid_ fear and she should not be concerned about it. It did not matter, there were no feelings, and it did not matter.

"So help me, if you jump out at me, that river won't just run with gold," Ty Lee said as loudly as she could, but her voice was a bit shrill and shaky from her nerves.

"I'm here. It took you a long time to realize that. I was very obvious," Azula said and Ty Lee walked towards the sound of her voice.

She heard about Water Tribe sirens once she joined the Kyoshi Warriors. It was a silly legend sailors used to tell, when Kyoshi Island used to be a port that occasionally saw traffic. Before the Fire Nation attacked. That was, Ty Lee thought, much like how she felt during these games.

"If I were a prospector," Ty Lee said, rolling her eyes. "And not a circus performer."

"Mmm, prospectors are certainly less desirable than circus performers," Azula purred as Ty Lee at last reached the room she was in.

It was cute. This was clearly a lovers' cabin. And this living room had solely paintings of _sunrises_... or maybe sunsets. They looked the same to Ty Lee, she was a bit abashed to admit. And Azula was lying on the sofa, sprawled in a manner that _looked_ natural, but Ty Lee was certain took her a long time to make sure was perfectly irresistible.

"Did you ever hear the myth of Water Tribe Sirens?" Ty Lee asked softly as she shut the door behind her. Azula tensed, her fingernails digging into the leather sofa beneath her ever-thinning body.

"No. Do I seem like I care about the mythology of savages?" Azula asked before taking a slow breath, gazing at the window and confirming it was an escape, and then reclining.

There was no trust. There was no friendship. There was just a sexy scavenger hunt that temporarily removed any emotions they had.

"Hm. I don't..." Ty Lee just began to undo her clothes, not bothering to make conversation.

Azula was not the best listener, even though she was an amazing storyteller. Ty Lee had not heard her talk for long in ages, and she did think about perhaps sticking around when it was over. To see that sunset or sunrise that those painters all seemed obsessed with.

They moved together, and all was forgotten.

All that they had been was now echo, but that echo was moans of genuine ecstasy.

A decent trade, wouldn't you think?

No. No, it wasn't. But Ty Lee refused to let that thought in her head for more than a second.

* * *

They woke in the morning together, which was a bit better than the very frantic tumbles. But it was cold, impersonal. Azula got up and started off somewhere, and Ty Lee thought to ask her about it, but she didn't. That was not how it worked.

Ty Lee did follow her, or, walk beside her, remaining in her line of sight. No, Ty Lee refused to conform to Azula, but the princess was really not that seductive dream; she was paranoid, and Ty Lee did not want to be on the wrong end of that paranoia.

"Up there," Azula said and Ty Lee was quite startled, "I want to go."

"Okay." Ty Lee shrugged. "Let's go."

"No, not today. Just remember it, will you?" Azula said fiercely and Ty Lee gave her an uncertain nod. "It's where the snow melts from the mountains and flows down here. Up there is a shop that sells supplies and stories about how to go up to where it comes from."

"You don't mean go up that little crag, do you?" Ty Lee grimaced. "You want to climb a _mountain_."

"I don't see why I couldn't." Azula shrugged. "Maybe if you're good, I'll let you carry my bags."

Before Ty Lee can think of a retort, or kiss her, or say goodbye or do any of the things that she was thinking, Azula stepped over the slick rocks jutting out of the river that ran with gold and snowmelt, and she disappeared.

Again. The girl liked vanishing, didn't she?

Ty Lee only realized in the future that the time aligned in a way that maybe Azula did not know, but there was no way that she was not...

It made the one moment, the one moment not revolving around sex or dry wit, a stupid one-sided conversation about climbing a mountain, become even more enigmatic and frustrating as time went by.


	4. Mama You Been On My Mind

Zuko and Ty Lee's honeymoon was something Ty Lee was not quite prepared for.

They entered this as friends, as an honorable man doing a favor to somebody he cared about, and his family. But they could use a vacation, that was certain. And they did not want to deny themselves that for the world.

Ty Lee was ecstatic about the hot springs, and she signed up for every single spa appointment she could get her royal hands on. Zuko found it extremely predictable; what he did not find predictable was that she also signed him up for several.

"It isn't really my _thing_ , you know," was his complaint as he was taken into a very concealed and peaceful room with her.

The heat of the steam was pleasant, and he could already feel the weight on his shoulders loosening. She found it instantly enjoyable, and was smiling more brightly than usual. The pool of water was crystalline, and the plants growing inside shimmering with drops of condensation.

He was staring at it with uncertainty about the _seaweed_ wrap Ty Lee had just been talking about when he looked up to see that she had just taken off her clothes.

"Uh," Zuko began before wondering if he should look away or not. Yes, he should probably look away. No, he did not look away.

"I'm just naked. It isn't like it's sexual or anything," Ty Lee said and Zuko felt a strong sensation of guilt for feeling as if it was. And _still_ feeling as if it was after she said that it was not.

She dipped into the water gracefully and he looked down, still clothed and still wondering why he was doing this. Yes, he needed a vacation. Yes, he should get in. No, he had no excuses for why he should not.

Slowly, Zuko took his clothes off, and Ty Lee adamantly but silently refused to avert her eyes. He looked good, even if he was not...

 _No_. Ty Lee refused to let herself think about Azula on her honeymoon. Even if this was just a marriage of convenience, she owed it to her own dignity, the dignity of the Fire Nation, and to Zuko to not be pining over _that awful woman_ while she was here, just trying to have a fun time and relax.

Zuko was in the water, and they were immersed in the heat together. Ty Lee slowly undid her braid and he watched that as he leaned against the slick stone.

Their conversation ran dry, and they lingered in the heat for a little while. Ty Lee thought about getting out, since the heat was a little bit too much for her. Zuko did not even notice, being a firebender. But then she had another thought, a thought about erasing her memories of Azula and how she could not stop thinking about her even with this soothing steam and incense and all of the beautiful plants and paintings.

Ty Lee slowly moved through the water, knowing it was wrong to use Zuko to try to get over Azula. But she did not stop until she was on his lap, the water making a strange barrier between them. And she kissed him on the mouth fiercely, thinking of how his eyes were gold like hers, and maybe she could pretend despite how different their bodies were.

Or at least, she could tell herself that he was so much better, because he was not playing any games.

It was consolation, for now.

* * *

Far away, Azula remained trapped in her memories for a long while. She could not stop thinking about the Royal Wedding, and she hated herself for that. It was a disgusting thought that she could care about Ty Lee enough to even want anything to do with ZuZu and his ridiculous rule of the Fire Nation.

Ty Lee could do whatever her whore heart desired and Azula did not _care_. She did not care at all and so she did not understand why she was traveling towards a _mountain_ in the middle of the Earth Kingdom instead of maintaining her carefully erratic movements as a wise fugitive should.

There was originally a thrill in being on the run from everyone, but it was beginning to run dry at this point. And now Azula was so tired, as she at last reached that mountain. She wanted to climb it, as absurd as that was. It was an obscene, ridiculous goal that only a lunatic would ever try.

And therefore, she simply had to. How could she possibly resist? How?

She was hungry, thirsty and tired, and so she sweet-talked the owner of the inn into making her some food, and then settled in for the night. In the morning, everything was going to be much easier, and Azula knew that.

Her life moved on, and she simply had to deal with that like a responsible, reasonable adult.

That was how things _worked_.

Azula hated how things worked, and she was constantly on the prowl for how to change them, not that they were ever easy to change, because her life _hated_ making things easy on her.

* * *

Life after the wedding went better than Ty Lee anticipated, and that was more than she could have asked for. Their friends awaited them, and Ty Lee was excited about redecorating the palace and embracing the fact that she no longer had to worry about _so many_ things.

She was still disturbed about the fact that there was more than just that one closed room in the spa. Ty Lee and Zuko could not pretend forever that there were not several, heated and passionate moments, even if they wanted to seal them in a vault of the spa resort forever.

They just focused on platonic parenting, to try to forget.

Izumi was a cute baby, and she was a wonderful distraction from what happened on Ty Lee and Zuko's vacation. They were both so, so eager to escape it that they welcomed her into their arms with even happier smiles than usual.

Everyone loved her, and everyone wanted to take turns babysitting her. It was kind of cute, and kind of more ridiculous, when you think too much about it.

Ty Lee did not want to think about when she was with Zuko. It was not a moment of weakness, because there was absolutely nothing weak about having sex with your _husband_. It should not have felt like betrayal because clearly Azula was sleeping with _somebody_ if she showed up with a baby of her own.

There was just this nausea that came with thinking of how happy it made Ty Lee to have been with Zuko. How much she had loved the kisses and how he felt against her body. But what was so much worse than that, was how focused she was on his features, how much she was really just longing for someone _like_ him but with a body nothing like his.

Izumi was growing, and it was thrilling, and exciting.

Ty Lee focused all of her energy on that, and not on how she was still so in love with Azula, and she was worried that Zuko was falling in love with her. He acted like it so often, and Ty Lee could not bear the idea of hurting him.

Not like Azula hurt her. Ty Lee could not do that.

* * *

The first year of Izumi's life, and Ty Lee and Zuko's marriage was without a single issue, without a moment of pause. It was a very fluid partnership that revolved around that little girl and making sure she was growing up with the right kind of family, the right kind of happiness that would not screw her up the way Zuko and Azula were messed up by their parents.

Ty Lee never had the words to say, just like she never did for Azula. But Zuko was not like his sister, but Ty Lee did think that he probably would feel as if she were treating him as if he were weak if she commented on his behavior.

But they worked in a calm, soothing tandem. Ty Lee sang to Izumi, and Zuko laughed about that, because she was so talented at performing, but Agni, his wife could not sing.

One day, though, they both were stunned speechless when Izumi warbled back. Ty Lee's eyes lit up, because she almost did not believe what she just saw. She looked up at Zuko, her face flushed and her shiny eyes wide, asking, _hoping_.

Zuko leaned closer and Izumi made the little warbling noises again. They were not her first words, but for a little girl that Ty Lee nicknamed _Sparrowkeet_ , it was more than something. It was such a beautiful night, that Ty Lee could have kissed him, but she sure was not stupid enough to get herself into that mess again.

She just stayed by Izumi, as if a baby's cooing was an operatic symphony. And, to be honest, it felt so much like one.

"Is this what it's like to be a mother?" Ty Lee asked as she finally got Izumi to go to sleep, her heart still warm. She was passing Zuko in the hallway again and he just breathed in.

"I wouldn't really know," he admitted and Ty Lee just smiled softly. "But it was..."

There were not really words in their language for what it felt like to see their sparrowkeet doing that. But it was _good_ , and good was a good enough word for them.

They parted ways without commenting too much, because talking about it for too long would destroy how dreamlike it had felt.

* * *

Izumi wanted so desperately to walk. It was her biggest desire, and Iroh saw it first. He had started spending much more time with his newlywed nephew, laughing at the little sparrowkeet.

"You need to help her start crawling," Iroh suggested as he began speaking to Ty Lee. His tone was gentle, and not commanding, but Ty Lee would not have minded either way.

She really had no clue about babies, even if Izumi still was alive nearly a year into her small life.

"I have no idea how to do that," Ty Lee admitted openly, shrugging

"She likes to lie down like that, you see," Iroh says, gesturing to Izumi and how she rests on her stomach, playing contentedly with her toys. She used to be so colicky and finicky, but now she was a very peaceful baby. "And you see how much she likes those toys."

"Yes..." Ty Lee was beginning to think that this was going to be some kind of dangerous royal family thing like the stuff that messed Zuko and Azula up so much.

"You take the toys, and, hm, here," Iroh began, absentmindedly stroking his beard and handing Ty Lee Izumi's favorite toy. Ty Lee took it and saw Izumi starting to cry; her first instinct was to shove the toy back into her baby's hands, but Iroh would not allow it, as he helped Ty Lee across the room and had her sit on her knees in front of Izumi. "Now encourage her to come to you."

Ty Lee spent a good deal of time on it, and she had fun. Laughing with Iroh, helping Izumi on all fours as the little baby hated it.

"She reminds me of Azula," Iroh said at some point, and he was startled by the silence between Ty Lee and Zuko. His laughter faded, and he was quite confused by them. He just changed the subject. "Well, she is making fine progress, which means we probably should hide some of the poison and weapons that are within her reach."

Zuko and Ty Lee's faces both blanched at that, and Iroh laughed again.

"We probably should though," Ty Lee squeaked.

* * *

That night, Iroh made dessert and tea and gave the servants the entire evening off. Ty Lee finished hers and went off with Izumi, knowing Zuko would want time with his uncle.

"You two are a good couple. She is very compassionate to you, and you are compassionate to her as well, without any demands or competition," Iroh said, as he was apt to do.

Zuko shrugged, because he knew Uncle had more to say than just that. "What is it you have to ask? Yeah, our honeymoon went great. It was a little awkward, but we did sex more than once."

Oh. Oh. Agni, Zuko did not think he would ever say that to Uncle, and now he felt like he wanted to throw up everywhere. His face was mottled red in disgust at his own words. But Iroh just shook his head.

"No, no; I just think that you and Ty Lee are doing a kind thing together," Iroh said, and he began discussing news from Ba Sing Se, leaving Zuko wondering if Iroh had figured it out about Azula or not.

That was troubling to Zuko. But maybe he was being paranoid. He had been having some trouble with that lately.

When he sipped his tea, it was cold and he did not notice.

* * *

Meanwhile, Azula lived as she always had, even though she itched for more stimulation. The brilliant like her need their minds to be constantly challenged, they need to _know_ , and she feels frustration when she falls into mundane ruts.

Not like her routines of firebending that help her ascend into greatness. This life simply was making her weary. She was crossing the Fire Nation again to stay with a contact she was unsure if she could trust or not, and she could not stop thinking about the note, and her funeral.

It gave her sensations that she wanted to pursue like a junkie who had a taste after a long time dry.

She could not resist, even if it would end horribly for her.

* * *

It was the nearing end of the first year of Izumi's life when Azula's curiosity got the best of her and she risked everything she had. No one would have blamed her for what she wanted, except for those directly affected by it. She had washed her hands of Izumi before she even named her or saw her first smile or her first step.

But, there she was, on a windowsill, trying to figure out how to open it without being caught, and lamenting how lax the security was now, before realizing that it had never been much better before. She was teetering above what most people would consider to be certain death, but Azula did not have those fears; she had gotten up here unnoticed after all.

She unlatched it without any melting, which was the most important thing on her mind. A shred of one of her fingernails had to be sacrificed, and she had to tear off the rest of it with her teeth as she slid through the window into the moonlight soaked room.

This was risky, and Azula kept asking herself why she was doing it after two years of not caring. Although those two years did _not_ consist of not caring and she knew it.

No... it was not _caring_ or any of _those_ feelings. It was the need to _know_. It was her hatred for the knowledge that she could not obtain through any of her other, much safer and more clandestine methods.

The nursery was one that had belonged to her, but she felt no sentimentality towards it. She felt only one moment of sentimentality, and it was when she glanced at a mostly chipped away painting she vaguely remembered and tried to piece together what it was in her head. It was a dragon, she recalled, but not one of any importance.

Now it just looked like a smudge that was hastily covered by a table and golden lamp.

She looked around for a few moments until she saw what she was looking for and heard breathing.

Slowly, Azula walked across the shadowy room with silent steps, to lay eyes on her discarded daughter.

It was probably unwise, and she knew it. But Azula was relieved to see that she did not want to pick up Izumi into her arms and abscond out of the window with her. She had no sudden surge of maternal instinct within her, and she did not burst into tears at the sight of _her baby_.

There was just a moment in which she satiated knowledge, and perhaps reassured herself that she had not made a petty mistake.

But, while giving up Izumi had been wise even in her disoriented state, crawling through this window was the _stupidest thing_ she had _ever done_ , because Izumi was not alone in her room, and someone had just risen from the sofa in the corner.

Azula moved to run, but the shadow caught a glimpse of her first.


	5. What the Cat Dragged In

Azula knew that she should not have gone to see her daughter, and now she was paying for it. She took off down the hall, well aware that the moonlight had made her face visible, and well aware that the presumption would be that she was trying to kill or steal Izumi.

While Azula had no intention of killing the heir to the throne ─ an heir who was of _her_ body and therefore much less disquieting than Zuko ─ she did have a brief moment in which she wondered if she wanted to take Izumi. If that risk of sneaking into the _royal palace_ was because she meant to leave with the infant like a stolen vase.

But she had _not_ felt that urge. She stifled it even if it existed.

Azula stopped when she reached the door towards the inner sanctum, which was the opposite of where she wanted to be. She should have run the other way and now she felt like even more of a fool. And so she turned, deciding she would either fight or coerce.

Uncle. Her uncle? Iroh. A man she had not seen in a very long time, and a man who would not hesitate to kill her or turn her in to his _precious Zuko_.

She was frozen. He was too, but he had the upper hand and they both knew it.

"I just wanted to see her," Azula breathed so quietly she doubted his _ancient_ ears could even hear. "I just wanted to see her."

He gave her a look that made her begin to question if she should just strike while he was not expecting it, regardless of noise, and run out of the closest exit before she could be reprimanded.

She toyed with her fingers, prepared to strike him down with lightning but after giving her that uncomfortable, scrutinizing gaze, he slowly nodded. She never understood the man and why he never was locked up but she was. Yet, Azula was thankful for how senile her uncle was when the shadows on his face and his calm but grave expression told her that he was letting her go.

He stepped aside in silence, and Azula did not thank or question him; she quickly slunk away and slipped through the nearest window.

* * *

Iroh kept Azula's visit to himself, because his suspicions were confirmed that night. In his family, after all, nothing was ever what it seemed.

It was difficult, when his nephew and his wife woke up, and the baby was there in their pleasant breakfast in the morning sunlight. But he did know he had never given her what he gave Zuko, and his silence was the least he could do.

He thought she was going to steal the infant. He saw it in her eyes as he was preparing to strike her down there before she slew Izumi, but he saw a glimmer of indecision.

A glimmer of _tears_ , of emotion he did not think her capable of.

It was due only to that that he kept his mouth shut and served tea as if nothing had happened.

* * *

Azula should not have visited Izumi again. It was reckless and stupid and crazy but Azula did it anyway. It was not a _visit_ , per se, but she did get much too close.

It was three years after Azula had taken a ridiculous risk. She knew it was not worth it to risk her freedom for her _curiosity_. Yet, when she heard all of the _ruckus_ about the Fire Lord in the same city she was, the proper course of action would be fleeing or keeping out of sight.

Instead, here she was, staring down with the type of mistakes she never made before.

Azula was very good at hiding. Azula was very good at keeping out of sight.

It is difficult to find someone who does not want to be found.

And so, she watched her brother and his truly sickening little family from afar, which did not count as a _visit_. They were in Ba Sing Se and there were a thousand people here and Azula could very well have seen them by accident.

Alright, hiding on the roof of a building like an archer assassin probably was not able to be explained away as coincidence.

The little one was a toddler, walking quite well but clinging to Ty Lee. The _traitor_. If Azula hated anything, it was traitors.

Izumi seemed happy enough, not that Azula _cared_. She was spying because she hated her brother so much, and she was in Ba Sing Se.

* * *

The third time Azula snuck glances at the family she abandoned was on a cold autumn day, with the crumpled leaves in such _national_ colors. _Patriotic_ , fall was. Yet, summer was far better. It seemed that leaves changed into Fire Nation hues everywhere.

Ty Lee was not with Zuko; she was with Izumi, and they were in Republic City.

Azula knew she should stay further away, knew she should keep out of sight and slip through town after town after town and maybe some cities and try to find something pleasurable about it. She had been thinking about climbing that mountain, but it seemed far from worth it when she should keep her routine.

It was not as if her life before was at all better. She was strictly dictated by the dullest of forced activities, and so this wandering was as mature as adult life would be. Look at Ty Lee and _Zuko_ and their disgustingly ordinary and boring life.

Princess Azula was doing much better floating through bars, boring tourist traps and wherever she felt like.

Never freedom before. Never freedom, even before she was locked up.

Ty Lee was playing with Izumi on some _deathtrap_ playground as Azula watched from her window. Republic City had been the longest she had ever stayed in one place, and she did not _hate_ it. It felt almost nice to pretend to be someone else and to sink into this quaint city.

Currently she was in an apartment that was certainly not her own, since she may or may not have been creepily stalking her _dreadful traitor ex-girlfriend_ through the streets and attempting not to get noticed.

It was, yet again, reckless. Azula had an apartment on the other side of town where she would never have to cross paths with Zuko; she never had a view of Air Temple Island or the Embassies and that was how she liked it.

She followed them, though. She followed them and watched such happiness she had _given_ to someone that undeserving.

Ty Lee did not deserve Izumi, Zuko did not deserve Ty Lee, but Izumi deserved the throne.

Azula watched until she heard a noise in the hall, and left right as Izumi was climbing to the top of some hunk of metal that probably killed as many children as it amused.

* * *

The fourth time was the final. Because Azula made too much of a risk, and she was going to regret it. Izumi was six or so and Azula had not checked in, but it was the anniversary of her alleged death and _Zuko was commemorating it_.

It was a trap, was Azula's first thought, of course.

It was a trap because he would know she could not avoid people admiring her.

It was a trap but Azula knew she could outsmart it and she was on the Fire Nation coast anyway, in a deserted beach house with a nice view of the sunrise.

The morning she found out about the funeral, she was sitting in that house, trying to avoid her primal desires. Azula was better than that and she was so contented living among herself and practicing her bending where no one could see.

Azula woke up in a soft bed, blissfully alone. She gazed at the sunrise as she slowly undressed and habitually very slightly caressed herself as she put her clothes on, blissfully alone. The day would be not-quite-pleasant, but calm.

Wasn't that what everyone wanted? Contentedness?

Sure, she had woken from dreadful nightmares. Yes, she could not rid herself of so many dysfunctions that she sometimes felt like she was suffocating. But, ignoring the fact that she lived perpetually among malevolent ghosts, she went from a walk on the rocks above the beach, barefoot with the gravel poking into her. That pain was a sensation that was extremely welcome, and she liked it.

The commemoration spread quickly and Azula looked at the paper about it with the same curl on her lip as she had when she learned about Ty Lee marrying her brother. Her teeth ached, as if they had the desire to bite into someone and she did not hesitate to burn it to a crisp.

But her nightmares intensified and moved into daylight. She could not cure the shaking, one of the dreadful bouts she faced every few weeks. The walls were closing in on her, and she screamed in her bedroom because she was choking on the salt air and felt like an animal in a trap.

She had to get out, and so she went to a memorial for her own death.

In Caldera, Azula remained far away, kept her wits about her even more than usual, and she made sure she covered her every move the way she covered her footprints in the sand in her little beach _paradise_. But that ended when she saw Ty Lee and Zuko, and how they... did not seem to be in love. How Ty Lee kept staring blankly forward as Izumi struggled to keep serious at an event she did not understand.

Despite her fall, despite being overthrown, despite her father's filthy name, Azula was admired long after death. It was eerie, because history was written by the winners and Azula was not very kind to those who were victorious. She should have been obliterated by their vengeance when she lost.

Yet, the Fire Nation would always love her if Zuko did not stop it.

And he didn't.

She remembered her _actual_ funeral, and remembered how much she wanted to leave that letter. Those games with Ty Lee were pointless and served only to satiate Azula's desire for company. Yet, Azula was happy alone. Azula was _wonderful_ in isolation and that was physical.

However, she did walk the same path she did that day with the shivering of remembrance.

Azula paced as she examined all of the weak points and tried not to look out of place. She looked suspicious in the night, and she knew that, but she decided to breach the entrance. Azula slid through every pathetic defense and found herself in the inner courtyard.

There was a door in front of her. It led into the palace. She could go to it. She could knock on it. She could see what happened if she were Princess Azula again instead of that shadow in the beach house way out on the cliffs.

She waited in the inner courtyard, disgusted by the fact that she was contemplating knocking on that door just to _feel something happen_ after so long.

Azula opened her mouth, closed it, and then had to tear away from where she was and hide like a bird in the trees. This was not how she wanted it to work out, not with...

That was her mother. That was her mother with _her daughter_ and mother was holding Izumi's hand and Azula dug her fingers into the tree and tried to remind herself why she stayed away.

But something burned and boiled and screamed inside of her as she watched that.

Because _how dare_ a woman that _abandoned_ Azula like a _used tissue_ try to force her way into Izumi's life.

Azula left with no intentions of returning, but despite that, she could not help herself.

She tried to leave Caldera, but wound up charming her way into some stranger's bed. In the morning, the pink fingers of dawn had seized the sky, and the princess was staring at it as she forced her feet to continue back home.

But home was not that way, and she turned around to waste herself in a bar until she could work up the courage to leave.

That night, Zuko was sitting in his living room with his small family, and they had mostly forgotten about the ceremony two days before.

The Fire Nation was facing its worst monsoon season in decades, and Zuko had that constantly in his mind. Destroyed buildings and unhappy people was unpleasant when he could not quite explain to them that he was incapable of controlling the weather.

Izumi ran around contentedly with no intent of sleeping, which was _absolutely_ supposed to stop by the time she was five, then six, then seven, and now people said _nine_ because clearly they were wrong before. The only person with claims of children going to sleep just fine was his mother, but he was pretty certain she just drugged he and Azula... and definitely Kiyi. That kid was too well behaved.

Ty Lee blocked a pillow flying at her face and looked up at Zuko. "Go to sleep."

"Gladly," Zuko replied before the pillow collided with him. He coughed. "Okay, okay, Izumi, you have to go to sleep because it's... really late."

"It's not late!" Izumi snapped insolently and Zuko heard the rain increase as if it was mocking him.

It was torrential enough for the past three days that there were floods on his mind. He did not need to deal with this.

Ty Lee glared at him, and shook her head. He knew that look, and he knew that their pleasant family evening was over.

"Izumi, please," Zuko begged and Ty Lee squinted before just grabbing their daughter and carrying her away with a slightly stunned expression on her face. "That works too."

Zuko stood up, breathing a slow sigh of relief. But he, of course, was not allowed reprieve by the Universe, because he heard _knocking_. Rain, and knocking, and the knocking was something he never heard unless he was at other people's non-palace homes.

Oh, this was how so many ghost stories started. The knocking only intensified as the rain pounded and Zuko groaned. He had to check this out, didn't he? He followed the sound of knocking, praying to every spirit he could think of that it was not a ghost.

The knocking was coming from a door to the innermost garden. No one was out in the courtyard, and Zuko had no view of it, so his stomach did several backflips.

He hoped it was not a ghost or monster as he slowly walked forward and moved to the door. The knocking became much louder when he got there and he squeezed his eyes shut before opening it and stepping back.

Zuko opened his eyes, lightning crashed and he grabbed his chest and then arm.

"That was the sky," were the first words his sister spoke to him in over ten years.

The Fire Lord stood, mute, staring at the soaking woman who looked _aloof_ about this, and he realized it _was_ a ghost. He contemplated his actions for a split second before slamming the door shut again and trying to recover from his stupor.

She did not knock a second time and Zuko thought perhaps it was a sleep-deprived hallucination. But he could not shake the need to check, and so he stepped forward again and opened it. No lightning, but the sound of rain, and a _certain_ person standing in the _inner private garden_ waiting wearing an expression that was far from amused or patient.

"You are here," Zuko said slowly, not sure where his ability to speak went.

This probably was enough to make anyone tongue-tied however. You know, your "dead" sister showing up where she absolutely should not be after over ten years of no contact.

"I know I am here," Azula replied and then she stared at him for a moment. "And I am going to die of hypothermia, and so you are going to let me into my house."

"I'm not just letting you in," Zuko said, slowly regaining his faculties.

Azula eyed him for a few uncomfortable seconds. "Fine. Then I will die on your porch."

"That's a little..." Zuko said with his eyebrow cocked.

But Azula saw his weakness, his malleability that she could _so abuse_. "I will. I will die on your porch, and what will the neighbors say?"

"It's not even that cold."

" _I will die on your porch_ ," Azula asserted with a flash in her eyes that rivaled the storm.

Zuko sighed and caved in. "Okay, I get it. You can come in very slowly with your hands up."

Azula shrugged, despite that faulty logic, and walked in with the posture of surrender. It did not seem to comfort him, however. She stood there in the alcove by the courtyard as Zuko looked at the woman who looked as if she had just drudged herself up from the bottom of the ocean.

They stared, for there was nothing else they could think of doing.

At last, Zuko said, "Were you just walking around but you got cold and decided to come in for tea?"

Azula pursed her lips and contemplated her options. She saw his nerves, how easy it would be to crack him. And so she demanded, "Bring me clothes and tea."

"What? No. No. I..." Zuko was flabbergasted.

"I will take my clothes off right here," Azula said without hesitation.

But she did not beat Zuko this time as he moved to light the small lamp within the dusted glass case. "You can do that. There are... curtains, right there, if you want."

Azula withheld her frustration about _that_ suggestion and did take off her soaked cloak and half of her drenched _stupid peasant_ outfit. She hated how she decided to do this even _after_ she sobered up, but seeing her mother in that courtyard woke some beast that she had held inside of her for too long.

"I refuse to wear your curtains," Azula said, even though she had so many more important words behind her lips.

Zuko grunted and Azula fought another urge: murdering him.

"I don't care," he said, "Why are you here?"

Azula stood, fighting her strong urge to go back through the door and forget about this horrible idea. But she sighed and crossed her arms tightly over her chest.

"You got it right. I was just strolling around the poorly guarded palace grounds and got kind of cold and decided to stop by for tea." Azula's smug expression faltered and Zuko saw it.

"You clearly need something." Zuko did not want to know what.

Coldly, confidently, in the tone of a tyrant, Azula answered:

"Yes. My child."


	6. I Didn't Say Anything About Courts

" _Your child_?" Zuko asked, laughing. Azula's eyes flashed at how _hilarious_ he seemed to find this exceptionally serious request, and so she stood with her arms crossed over her dripping chest and waited.

And waited. And waited. Zuko was not laughing anymore, but he did not look as if he had yet snapped out of his shock. And she waited. And waited.

Until at last, he, having caught his breath, explained, "I can't believe that. Are you serious? You just showed up after eight years to do what? Bring her eight years worth of birthday presents?"

Azula narrowed her eyes. "Is it her birthday?"

 _She should have gotten that candy that she decided against._

Of course, Zuko began to laugh again before realizing she was serious. "How do you not know? Didn't you give birth to her?"

"So what?" Azula snapped, struggling more than she had in years to refrain from burning everything near her to ashes. _Including Zuko and his stupid smug face_. "I do a lot of things that I don't remember the exact date of."

She sighed and rolled her eyes, attempting to give the most laissez-faire attitude she could summon. Zuko did not fall for it, because, while he was in utter shock and disbelief, he knew that she would have showed up only if she had a reason.

"You cannot have Spa-Izumi," Zuko stated and Azula's fingers twitched.

" _Spazumi_? What the fuck do you call her? I thought it was Izumi which is a fairly tasteful name, although boring." Azula bit the inside of her cheek as Zuko still looked between horror and hysterics. "It's better than what Ty Lee would have chosen. Something like Princess Spark Glimmer, I'm sure."

Zuko laughs again before exhaling and trying to get a grasp on this situation. This was an extremely important situation that he could not evade facing head on and as responsibly as he could. Even if it was this ridiculous.

" _Izumi_. Just Izumi." Zuko paused, licked his lips and at last composed himself. Azula crossed her arms more tightly; _finally_. "Izumi is not legally your child."

"Izumi. Just Izumi. Izumi is not legally your child."

"Yes, she is, and I have every right to request custody of her."

Zuko thought he was done laughing in disbelief at the absurd, but he was not. Azula now was fairly certain that she was going to broil the rain on her body.

"What court would ever...?" Zuko cleared his throat. "What court would ever give a _child_ to a legally insane war criminal?"

Azula frowned. "I didn't say anything about courts."

Fire Lord Zuko could not laugh anymore. He was just dizzy and confused.

"You're just... asking me? You just thought that you would walk to the palace in the middle of the night, knock on the door and ask nicely for Izumi and I would just... let you _abscond_ with her into the shadows?" He cocked an eyebrow and Azula fought not to burn it off.

She took a deep breath and tried to act like herself. Act scary, act cavalier, even though her heart was racing and her stomach twisting with regret. "Well, when you say it out loud it sounds somewhat slightly implausible."

Zuko rolled his eyes. Azula genuinely contemplating clawing them out, but that would probably result in her execution. " _Somewhat slightly._ I'm going to ask you some questions now."

"Perhaps I will answer them."

"Why?" Zuko turned up his palms and Azula huffily shook her head.

"Why _what_?" she snarled.

Zuko responded, "Just _why_ in general. Why are you here? Why did you go missing? Why did you have a baby? Why did you leave that baby with Ty Lee? Why do you seem so sane? Why did you choose tonight? Why do you _want Izumi_?"

Azula said nothing for a moment before regaining her thoughts.

"Anything else? No. Fine, I will try to satisfactorily answer your questions. I am here to collect my child. I went missing because I did not want to be found. I had a baby because I got pregnant and I really hope you know how that happens because I don't have the energy tonight to explain that. I left the baby with Ty Lee because I didn't want to keep it. I seem so sane because I'm not currently crazy. I chose tonight because broad daylight would have made this more difficult. I want Izumi because she is mine and therefore I deserve her if I so desire."

Zuko frowned. "Those were awful answers."

"They were honest." Azula shrugged.

Zuko rubbed his neck and tried to think of what to say before he heard the screeching of feet against stone and he and Azula both looked up. Then they looked slightly further down and saw a little girl staring, slack jawed with dewy jewel eyes.

"Is that Izumi?" Azula asked and Zuko was speechless again. "Hello, little child. No one is going to hurt you. Why do you look so scared? I just told you I wasn't going to hurt you."

And Zuko sighed, because the choice was made for him. "Izumi, this is my sister. She isn't going to hurt you. She's coming to stay the night on a visit, but I haven't seen her in a very long time so we're going to ─"

"Mama!" Izumi interrupted and Zuko briefly thought Izumi knew about Azula before he realized it was much worse; his platonic wife was walking into the dimly lit alcove.

"You were supposed to be in..." Ty Lee looked up from the runaway child who tried to escape bedtime and saw the runaway adult who tried to escape prison. "What's happening?"

"My sister is here to spend the night," Zuko said and Ty Lee could barely think through her shock and discomfort. "She is very tired from traveling," he said in the same stilted monotone as he set his hand on Azula's back and began walking with her through the blockade of family members. "And so I think she would like some time to rest without being pestered."

Izumi looked confused, and was definitely not deterred by her father's request. Ty Lee could not stop staring, no matter how hard she tried. They both followed Zuko and Azula without considering it, slow footsteps still barely behind the two royal siblings.

Azula stared at the chair by the tarnished hearth Zuko was guiding her to in distaste. He tried to keep as calm as he could while Izumi stared at him with her fingers in her mouth and a quizzical expression in her wide golden eyes.

"I'm soaking wet," Azula said, still refusing to sit down. Zuko tried his best not to roll his eyes. "Ty Lee, go find me clothes."

It seemed that even the fire quieted its crackling in discomfort after that sharp demand.

"... excuse me?" Ty Lee asked softly, not abrasively but not complacently either.

"I said to go find me clothes. It isn't that difficult of a concept," Azula said and Ty Lee did not move.

"Maybe you should ask nicely if you want that," Ty Lee said very slowly, straining each syllable.

It was at that moment that Azula realized that Ty Lee's eyes were on Izumi as she was speaking, and that Zuko was uncomfortably giving the little girl reassuring expressions as everyone pretended that Azula was just a really nice relative who lived far away and not a war criminal everyone thought was dead.

Azula presumed Izumi was aware of the entire _death memorial_ today, but perhaps her child did not have as much experience with death as she did at that age. Izumi did, after all, belong to the first generation of children who did not remember a century long war.

"I would appreciate clothes," Azula repeated, sugary sweet and sickening.

Ty Lee took that same pained breath that Zuko had at least ten times in the past few minutes and walked away with a very tiny childish stomp of her foot once she reached the door.

Zuko interrupted before Azula could seize control of her situation, which he could see coming. And it looked like one of the hurricanes and cyclones ravaging the Fire Nation of late. "Izumi, you should go help your mom."

Izumi scowled and Azula was not sure what to make of it, but the child did obey him. Zuko was wise to send her away instead of tiptoeing around Azula's demands, but the missing princess was very displeased.

"I would like somewhere to stay," Azula said sweetly, but her eyes were treacherous.

"We can put you up in a guest room..." _if you promise not to murder anyone_ , said his eyes.

She glanced towards the long, winding hall towards the living quarters and presumed that he must have at least a few guests.

"Are your dear friends still in town? I saw a few of them earlier," Azula said with her arms crossed.

"So you did come to your own funeral," Zuko commented under his breath as if it were not obvious that she would.

The quieting of his voice was either for Izumi's sake or for someone much more dangerous, and Azula liked it either way.

"So you did fake my death to cover up my illegitimate child and marry my girlfriend behind my back," Azula hissed in response.

"It wasn't behind your back and she wasn't really your girlfriend," Zuko replied through his teeth. "You also are completely risking the peace between Four Nations and are going to destroy our family."

"And me being _dead_ did not destroy our family?" Azula smirked with the shadows of the fire dancing on her face.

But Zuko refused to stand down. "You didn't seem very concerned about that for ten years."

"Hmm. So, you're telling me none of your friends asked any questions about how certain you were that I was dead? Did you pretend to have my body or something?" she said and she knew she was winning.

Zuko was clearly alarmed and nervous about that, but he pretended not to be. " _No_. I'm sure that Katara and Aang and those guys, and probably Mai, all wouldn't be that surprised that you aren't dead. I just made up some Fire Nation law about people being declared legally dead after being missing for a certain period of time."

"That was a fairly short period of time."

"It isn't like anyone thinks the Fire Nation's laws wouldn't be crazy."

"But the entire public thinks I'm dead and they already don't like you very much so I'm sure the idea of you lying to everyone really will heighten your approval rating." Azula's smirk widens wickedly.

"You are the one who lied."

"About what? I did literally nothing wrong." Her laugh was soft but impactful.

"Yes, you did." Zuko was grinding his teeth and _she loved it._

"Name one thing I did wrong."

"I don't even know where to begin." Oh, his face was as flushed as his scar.

Azula was not sure why she did not come home earlier.

"I was a fourteen year old girl who loved her father and was forced since she was a little girl to become a weapon of war, and then I tragically lost my mind, and then my brother forced me into an asylum. And _after_ institutionalizing me manipulated me for his own personal gain just like his dad and then I ran away," Azula whispers, batting her eyelashes with a pointed pout.

"Don't phrase it like that."

"Don't phrase it honestly?"

They were interrupted as Zuko's panic and anger simmered. "Zuko?" asked a voice from across the room that did not belong to Izumi or Ty Lee.

Azula looked up and locked eyes with Katara, the waterbender girl. It was more than she could have asked for. "Have you called _both_ of your girlfriends to beat me up this time?"

"Katara is not my girlfriend," Zuko snapped and Katara would have assented if she were not experiencing fiercer shock than she ever had in her life.

"Zuko? What...?" Katara's eyes widened and her lips pursed. "Zuko!"

"What am I doing?" Zuko shouted, forgetting to whisper. "She just showed up here and started making demands!"

Mai. _Mai_. Azula could not conceal her tiny smirk. And the girl whose pale skin glowed slightly in the shadows inquired flatly, "Who just showed up here?"

" _All three of your girlfriends_..." Azula whispered.

"I called this," Mai said, shrugging.

"No you didn't," Zuko snapped.

"Yeah, yeah, I did. I knew this would eventually happen. Let's just hope nobody's yelling woke up your mom, because I don't think they make 'I'm sorry for making you think you were responsible for the death of your child for ten years' fruit baskets."

As Azula's eyes flickered with excited realization, yet another one of Zuko's friends was roused and entered the room. Slowly, Azula raised her hands in surrender, knowing that the more she played up how awful Zuko was, the more time she had to figure out the best method of survival until she could escape with Izumi in hand.

"Katara?" asked Aang. "Oh... well... Hi!"

"It's so wonderful to see all of you!" Azula exclaimed and no one knew what to say.

"You're yelling on purpose now!" Zuko shouted as his friends became even more stunned and confused.

"I'm only matching your tone!" She was laughing and she could not help it. At least it made the _crazy_ tile easier to play.

And Zuko screamed, ignoring his friends, "Azula, you can't draw attention to yourself until we figure out how to stop this from becoming an international transgression!"

"How was I supposed to know that you had made the palace into a hotel? Also, how was I supposed to know that you would fake my death? I did nothing wrong. Again, _I did nothing wrong_ and this is all Zuko's fault!" Azula let her damp hair fall over the front of her shoulder, her posture now intentionally crooked instead of cold and businesslike as before.

"Oh Agni, just please, please stop before this gets worse." Zuko could see the pity in Aang's eyes and it was getting out of control fast.

But Azula seized her victory when the fourth unanticipated guest entered. "Mother, I did nothing wrong and this is Zuko's fault for saying I was dead when I wasn't!"


	7. Almost Is Better Than Not At All

"Mother, I did nothing wrong and this is Zuko's fault for saying I was dead when I wasn't!" Azula exclaimed with such bravado that Zuko wanted to scream.

They were standing in front of a roaring fire, and it was impressive that the flames did not surge and consume half of the room. Because Azula literally could not have picked a worse time to show up very alive when she was supposed to be very dead; all of Zuko's friends were here for her _memorial service_.

His mother was so shocked that she did not move. He was fairly certain that Mai was as near to laughter as she ever got. Aang was nervously laughing, Katara was glaring, and mother had a look on her face that Zuko did not like. A face that Zuko had not seen since he was a little child and got into trouble.

Before the situation could explode, the Fire Lady walked in. "I got your room ready, Azula," she said quite confidently, her one so warm and welcoming and her eyes glossing right over the shocked and scrutinizing bystanders.

"Of course," Azula said coolly, and she walked towards Ty Lee with a very slight stagger that was so affected that Zuko stared directly into Mai's eyes, silently begging her to say something about it. But she just shrugged at him.

Azula left the room with Ty Lee and they disappeared into the depths of the palace, leaving Zuko taking deep breaths and wishing he had an alibi or at least a good reason for his transgression.

"I am as confused as you all are," Zuko said, and he genuinely thought that it was true. No one disagreed with him. " _But_ , I'm very open to questions."

The fire crackled and he glanced around at their faces again.

This was bad.

* * *

Azula expected to be housed in her own bedroom. But she was led down the hallway to the guest wing. It was surprisingly lacking in spider-fly webs and an untraceable ice cold breeze. In fact, it felt warm and smelled like spice instead of dust.

"This place used to be so... inhospitable," Azula remarked casually and Ty Lee just clenched her jaw. "So, why can't I stay in my own room?"

"Izumi has it," Ty Lee said bluntly. Her voice was pretty, honed to be innocent, but Azula could hear the anger in her tone.

"Right, well..." Azula sighed and Ty Lee stopped walking.

"You could be staying in a prison cell, you know," she said and now her cuteness was replaced thoroughly with venom.

Azula turned around to face her and Ty Lee's stomach churned with the knowledge that this was the hallway she accidentally kissed Zuko in. They had done nothing else romantic after their wedding night, but it haunted Ty Lee now that she could see Azula in front of her.

"Why are you angry? You should be overjoyed that I decided to return to your life," Azula said, combing her fingers through her soaked hair. She was dripping on the new carpet, but it was ugly anyway. "And clearly you enjoy my daughter. You couldn't take care of a cactus in my eyes; I am impressed and grant you my approval that you became an adequate mother."

Ty Lee did not know how to respond to that, and so she continued walking. Azula followed her, now much more troubled than she was before. She did not expect fanfare or a parade for her return, but she was _certain_ that Ty Lee would be happy. She was _always_ happy!

Azula allowed Ty Lee to lead her to a room that she had set up. The princess walked in contentedly until she saw something that was like a spider-snake popping out of nowhere and taking a chunk out of her chest.

That was the little girl, the little Izumi, waiting on the bed, kicking her legs back and forth and sitting on her hands.

Azula stared at the little child, and then would quickly look away when she noticed her gaze had drifted there again.

The girl was very happy and therefore Azula knew she would be _more_ than forgiven if she made up some sob story about how she couldn't give the baby what it _deserved_ and gave it away. That she had hoped the girl would reach Zuko, because she knew he believed in the fables of integrity and honor.

None of that was true.

She just panicked. It was too hard for her, and so she quit as soon as she realized she was not a prodigious mother. Azula wanted things to be easy again... and so she gave away an infant to Ty Lee.

Granted, Ty Lee was the only person Azula interacted with for years. She did not have much of a choice.

"Izumi, you're supposed to be in bed," Ty Lee said quietly and her nose was bright red. Azula almost wanted Izumi to stay; perhaps she could provide a human shield if this went south.

"I wanna meet her!" Izumi exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with an innocence Azula was not sure if she loathed or envied. "Hi! I'm Izumi and I don't know you!"

Azula swallowed. "Hi." She had no other words save for, "I don't know you either," which was not a lie.

"How long are you staying?" Izumi asked, smiling. She was missing her right canine tooth.

"At least tonight," which was also not a lie. So long as she didn't have a noose around her neck by morning.

"Awesome! Okay, okay, I'll see you in the morning then. Nice to meet you." Izumi hopped down from the bed and leaned in to Azula on her way out. "I always wanted a fun aunt."

Azula stared after her for a brief moment before she was gone.

* * *

On the other side of the palace, "So you just gave up?" Ursa asked softly.

"Yes," Zuko lied and... he did a pretty good job. He said nothing true tonight, but most of it was just lying by omission. He didn't know why he didn't just launch into the true story, but it did not feel like his secret to keep.

"Oh." Her monosyllabic response hurt Fire Lord Zuko more than any of the questions from his friends.

* * *

Azula changed into the dry clothes Ty Lee had gotten for her. She knew Ty Lee's observation was not in interest of Azula's body but in her head. Maybe Ty Lee was right to be wary, but Azula needed at least one person on her side.

"You looked pained," Azula said as she rummaged around for something to tie up her hair with. The soft, sheer clothes against her skin felt better than anything she had worn in a very long time.

"Yeah. I'm hurt. I'm really hurt because you could've come home a really long time ago," Ty Lee whispered and Azula almost pitied her.

"You think the best in people too often. I am startled that mindset hasn't killed you yet," Azula said as she at last found a dark red velvet ribbon.

"I thought the best in you," Ty Lee said with an uncomfortable emphasis on the past tense. "Izumi's so much like you."

"How unfortunate." Azula walked to her cold bed and sat down. "I never thought I was coming back, but I did. I... hope you can forgive me."

That last part was too serpentine for Ty Lee to believe it. "You could've come home, if you really loved Iz- _me_. If you really loved me. You're an incredible person and I'm the only person who thinks of you not as a means to an end like your dad or even your brother or mom or anybody... and I kinda was stupid enough to think that you didn't think of me as a means to an end either."

Azula rolled her eyes. "You answer your own question. People expect me to be manipulating them, even if they continuously fall for it."

"You know what hurts worst? The fact that you are such an incredible person and I know you did bad things but so did your uncle, so did Zuko..."

"Yes, well they never killed the Avatar." Azula gazed longingly at the gold embroidered pillows.

Ty Lee chewed on her thumbnail. "I went swimming on Kyoshi Island a long time ago. Not in the bay but further inland, where there are these really fast rapids that go to a waterfall. I thought it was stupid to do it, but my friends said if I got caught in the swirly place, that instead of trying to swim and stay up, that I should go down as far as I could and put my feet on the bottom and push myself up to the surface."

"You have the wisdom of an Air Nomad Guru," Azula said sarcastically and Ty Lee sighed. "I don't need to be told that I _learned_ from being completely and utterly destroyed by people I thought loved me. I need to be told how to repair that, because _no_ , not everything works out in the end. I have to change things if I am dissatisfied."

Ty Lee whispered, "Almost is better than not at all."


	8. Secrets Should Stay Secret

Ty Lee started walking away to leave Azula alone in the guest bedroom.

Azula felt disturbed by Ty Lee's words, telling her that _almost is better than not at all_. How _dare_ she assume that Azula did not know that, or that Azula would do nothing at all if it could not be perfect. Ty Lee was behaving in such a ridiculous fashion that Azula could not even find the right words to tell her what a bitch she was.

She settled upon calling after her old love, "You only think that because you're lazy and can always pretend to be romantically interested in royalty to get all you want!"

Ty Lee's muscles tensed and Azula waited for her to turn around, but she just shook her head and left the room.

Azula was abandoned by her.

Again.

* * *

Ty Lee found Zuko as soon as the debacle blew over.

He was sitting and staring at the hearth, left alone but not without the lingering stares and prying questions. Just the worries about the lies that came out of his lips to protect _Azula_ of all people.

"You feel guilty," Ty Lee said and Zuko just looked at her. He did not want to agree. "That's how she got away with what she just did."

"I know. But how could I _not_?"

"Because you raised her child for all of these years? Because you're the only reason she's alive? Because you never owed her anything in the first place?"

"I didn't expect you to be protesting about her so much. I always thought you were waiting for her and that's why…"

That stung Ty Lee right in the heart. "I wasn't _waiting_ for her."

"But you always loved her."

"I'm optimistic and loving, not stupid and trusting. Huge difference."

Zuko sighed and had to admit she was right. Ty Lee had been his closest friend for years, helping him raise his niece, playing a role she did not have to play. She could be trusted and he had to remember that, as much as Azula's presence made him paranoid.

"So you love her still?"

"I don't know why that matters to you at all," Ty Lee said sharply and Zuko swallowed.

Maybe he had crossed a line. He did not quite know.

"Because she's here and she's going to try to use you."

"Well, maybe she can't! Yeah, I was scared of her and in her shadow for a long time, and I played her games for a long time _but_ I'm not going to get _used_ by her. If anything, _you are_." Ty Lee's cheeks were bright pink and her eyes smoldering.

Zuko did not know what to say.

Zuko did not know what to do.

Zuko was not prepared for this day that he now realizes was inevitable.

* * *

Azula slept surprisingly well for her situation. She fell asleep more quickly than she had in a long, long time, and her nightmares were less violent and intrusive than they ordinarily were.

Maybe it had to do with the relief of not hiding. Maybe it had to do with the fact that she knew exactly what her tactic was going to be, and she was going to use it. Izumi belonged to her, and she would get Izumi by utilizing all she knew best about these people.

Firstly, her brother. He acted from his insecurities, seeking to be seen as honorable, and seeking to make amends with _her_.

Zuko felt she was his responsibility.

That made him utterly predictable, and therefore easy to manipulate.

He wore his weakness as openly as the scar on his face, and it would take more effort on Azula's part _not_ to exploit it.

When she woke up, there was a faint smile on her lips. That was unusual by far. She tried to figure out why it was there to no avail. Maybe she was simply eager to begin her plan of unraveling everyone and reclaiming what was once hers.

Maybe her back hurt less in this bed than her one at her previous home.

She rose from bed, found the clothes Ty Lee had given her, put them on, figured out how to spruce herself up without any servants or her own kits. And then she left her room, prepared for a dramatic exit. All of ZuZu's dear friends would be waiting for her.

Azula could play up the crazy. She could play up the desperate younger sister.

She could avoid discussing Izumi's origins in front of anyone; that would please Zuko. He _had_ been lying for such a long time.

It was for the best for Izumi, although Azula did not want to admit her brother cared for her daughter better than she could have. If Izumi were Azula's, she would be constantly haunted by the curse of her mother.

She would, just like Azula, be penalized for being born.

Just as she thought of her, Azula saw Izumi sitting and playing with her toys. She was isolated and alone. Azula glanced around for Ty Lee, Zuko or, worse, mother, and did not see them. How strange to leave Izumi vulnerable; that was terrible parenting and evidence that Azula would do better.

"Hi there," Azula attempted and Izumi looked up and smiled at her.

"I love having guests!" Izumi said brightly and Azula wondered if she had ever been that hopeful as a child. She has always known that life is not kind and people always have ulterior motives. Never would she have been that thrilled to meet someone as a youth or an adult.

Bad or good parenting? Azula needed to figure it out, because she needed to confirm her suspicion that Izumi would be better off with her.

Azula stared at the little child, and then would quickly look away when she noticed her gaze had drifted there again.

The girl was very happy and therefore Azula knew she would be _more_ than forgiven if she made up some sob story about how she couldn't give the baby what it _deserved_ and gave it away. That she had hoped the girl would reach Zuko, because she knew he believed in the fables of integrity and honor.

None of that was true.

She just panicked. It was too hard for her, and so she quit as soon as she realized she was not a prodigious mother. Azula wanted things to be easy again... and so she gave away an infant to Ty Lee.

Granted, Ty Lee was the only person Azula interacted with for years.

"That's… good." Okay, maybe this would not be as easy as Azula thought.

"Wanna learn about my toys?" Izumi's wide golden eyes glittered as she made a begging face the cutest puppy would envy.

"Yes," Azula lied. "I do."

* * *

Iroh paced in the kitchens beside a set up table for an hour as he listened to Azula and Ursa's screaming match two rooms away. He was nervous about what he had done, which was rare for him. Iroh always put thought and time into his actions and words and accepted that he would own the consequences. However, confiding this in Ursa felt _wrong_ now that he had done it.

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

She needed to know why Zuko had lied. She had endured agony for years over her part in Azula's "death" and it hurt her even more to know that her own children, the ones she already feared, had let her believe that for so long.

So he told her. And now she was talking to Azula, as he advised her not to.

He waited to face the music as he picked out nonsensical, garbled shouts from their fight. It seemed petty, but the matter of Izumi was the opposite of that.

And, as Ursa fled in frustration, Azula burst through the door, locating her uncle even more quickly than he thought she would.

"I am sorry. I advised her not to confront – "

"You should _never have told her_ in the first place!" Azula screamed, her voice still hoarse. "That had to be a _secret_! Do you not understand that or are you even more senile than I thought?"

"What did she say?" Iroh asked softly. He spoke as if he were talking down a rampaging tiger-monkey. It felt a bit like that.

"She talked to me about _helping_ me with Izumi! _Helping me_! As if she were a good mother! She fucking abandoned me after making me feel like I had ruined my family permanently by being born! I bet you she will fucking make Izumi feel the same way!" Azula shouted.

"I think an offer of help is fair. We want you to be able to be involved in Izumi's life, but you know deep inside of you that you are not stable enough to care for her on your own."

"I'm stable now!" Azula screamed at Iroh, not noticing the hypocrisy when she threw the silverware off of the table just to watch it crash. "I have a home and a life and being on the run from everyone becomes second nature eventually! I was a scared child when I had her and this should have been a temporary arrangement!"

"How can you think it is best for Izumi to be taken from the home she knows and loves? You being here for her I support –"

"You support me losing her to Zuko and Ty Lee. They're useless! They couldn't raise a _plant_!"

"Do you not see the beautiful child here? She is happy and we all want you to be happy with her."

"Lies. You are a _liar_ and I am _tired of it_! How dare you tell anyone what you saw that night!"

Iroh averted his eyes.

There was no helping her, and that would send ripples of a nightmare through the previously placid palace.


	9. Show Me Love

Azula was out of her mind.

That did not surprise anyone.

What did shock the inhabitants of the Fire Nation Royal Palace was that the spark of her madness was her little niece, Izumi. Azula watched her too often for anyone not to notice. Azula was fixated on her and made an effort to hold awkward conversations, which she certainly did not do for anyone else in this world.

No one suspected, unless they knew.

Princess Azula never learned how to care for or even talk to children. She had not known many in her lifetime. That probably contributed to why she left a nameless newborn baby girl with her ex-girlfriend and enemy.

Izumi was, thankfully, fascinated by Azula as much as Azula was fascinated by her. Sparrowkeet followed her auntie everywhere, tripping on her heels despite the soft warnings from the adults that Azula was dangerous. Dangerous seemed fun to Izumi.

Ursa kept her distance. Iroh did as well.

Probably something to do with Azula screaming that she would burn them alive in the middle of dinner last night. They were right to be afraid, Azula told herself.

Princess Azula deeply hoped that the silence of Ursa and Iroh would be maintained. As far as she knew, Zuko, Ty Lee, Iroh and Ursa were the only people who knew that Azula was Izumi's mother. That they knew in the first place was disconcerting; five could keep a secret if four were dead. And, well, Azula considered that option on her more paranoid days.

Ty Lee asked one morning, "Are you going home at some point? Back to where you'd been hiding?"

Azula feigned exaggerated surprise, sardonic gasp and all. Ty Lee pursed her lips at being mocked.

"Well, hello! Nice to meet you! I thought perhaps you had forgotten that I exist," Azula said in an affected, breathy voice that made Ty Lee want to punch her in the nose.

"I don't have to acknowledge you if I don't want to. I'm not your love-struck shadow anymore," Ty Lee said. Azula did not believe her for a second; there was _no way_ Ty Lee had moved on so strongly. "I was also pretty sure you were avoiding me too."

Ty Lee crossed her arms. Azula scoffed. Then the princess softened for another approach.

"I think about you so often," Azula purred with a seductive but sweet gaze. "I always have and always will. I see you in mountains, in seashells, in pretty girls who just can't replace—"

Ty Lee crushed her breakfast fruit by accident. The juice stung her eyes and the act made Azula shut up.

"Don't even try that with me," Ty Lee squeaked, shaking the orange juice from one hand and rubbing her eye with the other. Her hands looked so very smooth and Azula wanted to touch them, but if she did, she likely would be chi-blocked by them.

"Will you go out with me?" Azula decided to ask. It could not hurt. Her charm was glistening – at a solid ten – there was no way Ty Lee would say no.

"No," Ty Lee said and it took Azula a moment to fathom it.

People did not say _no_ to Princess Azula of the Fire Nation. That was not a situation that Azula's life prepared her to face. Even her captors at the asylum bowed and scraped most of the time. Hard to get, Azula decided. Playing hard to get.

"I will see you tonight," Azula confidently said, sliding back into an undeniably effective power position. No one could refuse _that_.

"No," Ty Lee repeated, not wavering or a second. Azula was completely and utterly bemused. "I always loved you and I always will, but you have to earn my trust and my affection. You have to _earn_ the right to take me on a date. Bit by bit. For real. No cheating or manipulation. I know you too well to fall for it."

Azula tried another approach. "Will you sleep with me at least? That isn't— stop walking away from me, Ty Lee!" Azula snapped with the force of a dragon. Ty Lee put one hand up in the air and did not look back.

It did not _work_.

Azula was stunned.

* * *

Azula was sulking in the gardens after that fiasco with Ty Lee. Her day somehow managed to get worse during that brooding session; her mother intruded on her privacy.

"I've not talked to you since you were Izumi's age," said Ursa, as if it mattered to Azula.

"I would like to keep it that way, mother," Azula brightly said without looking up. "I have no need for you in my life."

"I know you know that I know about Izumi," Ursa said. "Why did you give her up?"

"Why did you give _me_ up? Oh, wait, I don't care," Azula stated. She did not even care what people here thought of her anymore. She was not winning no matter what she did. At least for now.

Ursa was not deterred by that comment. She wanted to help Azula. She felt she owed it to her. She was wrong.

"I thought I killed you for years. Do you know how messed up that is?" Ursa said. Azula pretended not to hear her. "I think you will be a… a good mother to Izumi if you give it time."

Time, time, time. Earning things like Ty Lee said. Azula did not have the patience nor the need to _wait_. She deserved to get what she wanted _immediately_.

Azula clenched her jaw as Ursa opened her mouth to speak again.

Ursa touched her shoulder.

Azula stormed back inside.

* * *

Azula was still disgruntled about her mother when she heard an infuriating noise inside of the palace walls. Azula bit her lip and spun around to violently stop it. But when she tracked it down to its source, she found it was Izumi wailing.

Naturally, Azula had the urge to slap her and tell her to toughen up, but that was not an option.

Azula sighed and walked in. Maybe she would give this _earning_ thing one try.

"What happened?" Azula inquired, trying to keep her frustration out of her tone.

"I got cut!" Izumi shrieked before breaking down into even louder sobs.

Azula now thought "Sparrowkeet" was a stupid nickname. "Howler Monkey-Hawk" was more apt. Although, it did not roll off of the tongue quite as well.

Princess Azula searched her memories and wits for anything she could do that would not traumatize her daughter. She had to impress Izumi if she wanted to reclaim her. A memory of her father sprang to mind. A not-traumatic memory.

Azula was suddenly punched in the gut by her emotions about Ozai.

"Don't cry," Azula said vehemently. She did not expect to be so visceral about a little girl sobbing. It scared Izumi, clearly, so Azula knelt in front of her so that their golden eyes met. "My father told me never to let anyone see me cry. It shows weakness.

"I can't just not cry!" Izumi shrieked, sniffling loudly. She rubbed at her tears until her face was ruddy.

And they said _Azula_ was an unfit parent. She could do better at this than Ty Lee or Zuko ever could.

"Yes, you can," Azula said softly. Her talking-to-a-child voice was not very fine-tuned, but she was trying. "You have power over yourself and how you react to things that try to make you cry. You have the power to stiffen your lip and fix whatever is upsetting you.

Izumi frowned and furrowed her brow. "I can't fix this!"

The crown princess thrust her bloodied hand into Azula's line of sight.

 _Fine_ , Azula thought, _if she can't fix it; I can._

Azula grabbed Izumi's wrist and wordlessly dragged her through the palace to wash out the wound. The water stung and Izumi snarled but Azula did not say a word or show any emotion until she had bandaged up the little girl's paw.

"There. Fixed," Azula said with a smug demeanor.

"It wouldn't've got fixed if I hadn't cried!" Izumi said and Azula briefly hated her own child.

"Don't be so ungrateful," Azula snapped before reaching out her hands to steady Izumi atop of the counter.

From behind Azula approached the worst of people: her brother.

"You did a really good job," he said after clapping sarcastically. He examined Izumi's bandage as if Azula was unfit to do something that simple. "I'm impressed."

"I hate you," Azula growled, glaring at him.

Zuko laughed. "I complimented you, and you tell me you hate me?"

"I do not need your praise," Azula stated.

"I know you don't," Zuko said. "But I gave you one anyway, and I can't take it back."

Azula glared even more viciously.

* * *

Azula caved in to Izumi's demands for a "tuck-in" or whatever it was. It took too much effort. Zuko and Ty Lee were _terrible_ parents. Azula would not have raised a daughter who needed so much comforting just to go the fuck to sleep.

The elder princess did, however, understand one necessary comfort.

"It's acceptable to be afraid of the dark. Many powerful people have been," Azula said quite awkwardly. She did not want to give away that she was afraid of the dark for a long time.

Izumi's expression was doubtful. She punched her pillow.

"It. Is. A. Dumb. Fear," Izumi whined. Her lip trembled yet again, threatening tears that Azula did not want to see or cope with.

"You're not afraid of the dark. You're afraid of what is in it, and that is a fair fear," Azula said. She wanted to confide her own past in Izumi, but she could not find the words.

Izumi sighed into her pillow.

Azula continued snuffing out the excess of candles, one by one.

"It's a bad fear!" Izumi complained.

"It is. All fear is bad. But you can't let it win, can you? The world should fear _you_ ; you should not fear _the world_."

Azula studied Izumi for a moment before darkening the last candle.


	10. Passive Aggression

"It's surprising how many people don't know what animal is what even as adults," was Aang's wisdom of the day.

Zuko was so distracted by the incredible artwork Aang made for Izumi that he almost did not notice a ghost sulking in the corner wearing a vengeful expression. Izumi and Aang did not seem remotely disturbed by what was the most frightening thing Zuko had seen in years. It was the kind of scary that you just could not look away from.

"Yeah," Zuko replied out of the corner of his mouth. He dared to lock eyes with her. "Why are you glaring at my child?"

That just made her glare intensify.

"What?" Azula said softly. Her eyes glinted.

If Aang was not bothered by Azula before, he looked it now.

Zuko refused to stand down so easily. "I _said_ : why are you glaring at my child, your niece?"

"I am not. I am glaring at you, the father of your child, my niece."

"Is there are problem here?" Aang asked, standing.

His height was far more intimidating with time, Azula had noticed. Yet, not nearly as intimidating as her presence, and she knew that very well.

"No," Azula whispered. "My brother was just leaving. He is uninterested in teaching his child, my niece, about animals, seeing as how poorly such a brilliant child has been doing at your game."

Zuko began to speak before changing his mind. It was a challenge, but he had to choose his battles, and this was not worth it. He slowly left the room and allowed whatever madness that he witnessed to continue.

* * *

"I haven't seen you all day," Ty Lee exclaimed excitedly.

"Me, or Izumi?" Azula knew the answer; Ty Lee had been pretending she really was dead for the past two days.

Ty Lee surprised her by saying, "Both of you all day! But mostly Izumi!"

Azula said nothing; Ty Lee did not ask her to.

"Mommy!" Izumi shrieked, running at Ty Lee and hugging her legs.

Azula remained calm. Well, she _briefly_ remained calm. Her smoking hands gave it away.

"Are you a good mommy, Ty Lee?" she purred. Azula made sure she sounded delicate, but she was anything but.

"You seem to think I am!" Ty Lee grinned wickedly.

Azula did not have a response to that.

* * *

Izumi had just been tucked in when Ty Lee literally bumped into Azula and covered her gasp with one hand. Her heart raced when she faced the woman whom was waiting for her.

"Do you love my brother?" Azula asked. She did not break eye contact with Ty Lee.

"In a sense," Ty Lee replied nervously. She did not know what else to say.

"In _what_ sense?" Azula whispered, leaning against Izumi's bedroom door.

"I love him like he's my best friend." Ty Lee meant that wholeheartedly.

"You said that about me before," Azula replied.

"I was lying to you," Ty Lee admitted, adding a gentle smile. "I'm not lying about him."

"Have you slept with him?" Azula demanded.

Ty Lee flushed so red it looked as if she had a bad sunburn.

"Mmmm. One time," she squeaked.

"That is one too many." Azula crossed her arms.

"I'm not trying to impress you, and I don't want to be with you anymore," Ty Lee said.

"You would rather be with _him_?"

Ty Lee growled, "No. I would rather be with nobody for all of eternity than be with you again."

"I have no desire to be with you either," Azula lied.

"Mmmm. Then why are you trying so hard?"

"To spite Zuko." That was very believable, and would have worked on anyone but Ty Lee.

"Mmmm. I think you love me."

Azula gave up, yet again.

Ty Lee wanted Azula to keep trying, and she hated herself for it.

Did she like the attention after so long? Did she want the sex after so long? Did she love Azula and want her back?

She did not know, and not knowing killed her inside.

* * *

As she entered the master bedroom, Zuko kissed Ty Lee.

She stepped back and nearly bolted.

"Do you love my sister?" he asked, the realization wide in his eyes. He knew that her reluctance was _always_ out of loyalty to Azula, and he knew he would lose her before he could even acquire her now that Azula was back in the picture.

"In a sense," Ty Lee replied. She did not know what else to say.

Azula clearly disagreed, judging by the combustion of the hallway.

"Eavesdropping always was her favorite hobby," Zuko murmured as he put it out.

Ty Lee knew that, while Zuko remedied their walls, she now had two metaphorical fires to put out now and she did not know how to do it.

* * *

Azula was trying to eternally sleep to no avail when her door opened, slammed shut, and locked in one noise. She sat up to see Mai, of all people. Mai, who had no right to be within five feet of the currently dead princess.

"We need to have a talk," Mai said. "This is the most passive aggressive house I have ever been in, and you've been to the house I grew up in."

"I don't appreciate the company of extremely fair-weather friends. You shouldn't even be here," Azula snarled, her muscles tensed.

"You should be ashes," Mai retorted instantly.

Azula was too curious to resist any further. "What talk are we having?"

"Tell me what your brother is lying about." Mai always did like to get to the point.

"Do not try to trick me by pretending to mock my brother," Azula said, forcing Mai's eye contact.

"No one is pretending that." Mai almost laughed. "I'm just trying to bait you into telling me what you and your brother are lying about. Zuko may have wished for your death countless times, but the one thing that makes Zuko Zuko is that he never gives up, no matter how ridiculous the lost cause is. He would never give up on finding you until he found your corpse."

"Well, we have been running a grand scheme of sorts together and I needed to be dead in order to keep it secret. It is very illegal, you see."

"No."

"Fine, it is completely legal and that is why I am so ashamed of it."

"No."

"This does not effect you."

"Yes. Until I leave this palace and go home, it effects me," Mai said, crossing her arms and steadying her stance. She made it clear that she was not even leaving this _room_ until she had her way.

Azula waved a hand and lay back down. "Go stay elsewhere. You have the means."

"No. I saw you rise from the dead and I'm pretty sure that's the reason no one else has left your memorial service yet. We're waiting for someone to inevitably let it slip."

"That is not inevitable."

"Zuko," Mai said, and they both knew his conscience was a ticking time bomb.

"Why is he so moral?" Azula sighed, rubbing her face. "Where did he get it? I cannot believe he is somehow related to me."

"No else can either," Mai joked, "but, I'm pretty sure your dad wouldn't stop at his face if he wasn't certain. So, there must be some kind of morality deep inside of you that has a burning desire to tell me."

"My turn to say _no_. Go ask Zuko." Azula, again, lay back down and pretended to sleep.

It did very little for her.

"I'm supposed to be comforting you and I'm going to give it another five minutes to make it more believable."

Bemused, Azula asked, "Who asked you to comfort me?"

"Ty Lee."

That did the trick. Azula's wall of ice melted at the name.

"This is all her fault. I bet she was the one who wanted to fake my death in the first place. She coerced Zuko into doing it by batting her eyelashes and lying to him about the paternity of his child because obviously she has had so much sex with him even though I could have returned for her at—"

"That was so easy," Mai said in utter disbelief. "Zuko asked me to talk to you, not Ty Lee. I could just tell that she had something to do with this all, given her extremely dampened spirits since you showed up."

"I returned for her," Azula said.

Mai sighed. "That was a pitiful lie."

Azula sighed. "I returned for Izumi. And no one will give her to me even though she is rightfully mine."

"Are you just mad that Zuko stole yet another thing that was rightfully yours?" Mai could not help that one.

"She _is_ though." Azula did not sound vivacious about this like she did about the throne, their mother's love and Ty Lee and all else. She sounded sad and broken. "She deserves better than my pathetic shadow and traitorous slut of an ex-girlfriend."

"Better like… you? And your famed skill with children?"

"I have never had enough contact with children to prove how good I must be with them."

"That wasn't a joke, was it?" Mai waited for a few moments. "So, it wasn't. Did Zuko decide to do the right thing an adopt your abandoned baby as his own or did he just turn a blind eye to Ty Lee lying and saying it was his so people would think she had sex with him?"

"Both, I guess."

Mai could not believe the connection she had to make in her mind. There was no way that Azula would do something as reckless as the implied act. "So I take it that you left Izumi with Ty Lee."

"Yes."

"You didn't just drop her off in front of the palace or sneak into your brother's room or even just go to a random doorstep somewhere? You went to _Ty Lee_. Do you remember when she forgot to feed her cat until it died? What were you thinking?"

"I trusted her at the time."

Mai snorted; _that_ was pathetic. "No."

"I liked her a lot at the time," Azula corrected, playing with the hem of her blankets. She no longer was so passionate about eye contact.

"Better. I don't have a reason to tell anyone because I want to watch how they all figure it out eventually. Maybe Zuko will have an outburst? Maybe it'll be an awkward one by one sort of thing? Will you steal her in the night when everyone is sleeping? Who knows?" Mai smirked, but it was quickly gone.

"If I were to ask you for a favor – do not say no before I am done speaking – would you do it?" Azula whispered.

"Probably not, but I'm listening."

"Would you help me steal Izumi in the night when everyone is sleeping?"

The shadowy bedroom was silent as Azula awaited Mai's reply.

Mai at last answered: "For a price."


	11. Mother May I

Azula agreed to pay Mai's price.

It could not hurt. She did not see much of an ally in that traitor, much less a friend, but she did see an opportunity. That was worth much more.

She merely had to bide her time until she could begin unraveling their plan.

* * *

"Is father still... around?" Azula inquired. She clutched tea in her hands and sat across from her brother. He was pretending to be busy, but not very well.

Zuko averted his eyes. He struggled with the morality of it; the answer mattered more than Azula could imagine.

"Yes." Zuko inhaled and exhaled slowly. "But you can't see him."

"Why not?" Azula demanded, glaring.

"Because everyone thinks you're dead."

"So I have to stay locked up forever? Hidden until I vanish again. . . this time taking a souvenir? A little girl who rightfully belongs to me, to be precise."

Zuko clenched his jaw. Azula did not stand down; it was not in her blood and she would never bow to a false ruler like _ZuZu_.

They stared each other down until he decided to be the bigger person.

"You won't ever have Izumi. But I won't throw you out of her life either, so long as you don't do anything _crazy_. I'll find an appropriate way to publicly come clean—"

"Like me burning down half of the factory district? I imagine it would be very _explosive_."

"Don't do that. I mean, do that. I mean, whatever I say doesn't matter because you just do whatever you want. Which is," Zuko said, pausing for gravitas, "why you will never get Izumi as your own. You're selfish, you're dangerous, and _you_ gave her up."

"I was young when I gave her up, and I did it for her own good."

"You did it because you were scared."

"That is _slander_."

"It's true. I can understand why you would be scared, but if you wanted to do something for her own good, you wouldn't choose Ty Lee. Her cat once died because she forgot to give it food or water."

"That's a lie. It was a fire ferret."

"What do you want to do?"

" _Talk to Aang_."

"What? What did you just say?"

"We tell the Avatar, tell him to keep a secret – which he will – and we see what his Avatar opinion is. Doesn't he overrule you or something?"

"You don't think he'll be biased towards me?"

"I think he will do what is best for Izumi. Which is having her mother be her mother."

Zuko thought that would work in his favor. He wondered at first what game Azula was playing, before realizing that she genuinely thought she was so wholly in the right that Aang would agree with her. He supposed it _was_ good that she gave up Izumi, if she had such a skewed idea of what was healthy for a child.

"I agree that we both have biases against each other because of our childhood. Aang will be fair." Zuko knew Aang actually _would_ be fair. If he thought Izumi should be with Azula, he would side with his enemy over his friend.

"He will be." Azula smirked with a twinkle in her eye.

Zuko did not like it, but he did not want to argue.

* * *

That afternoon, Zuko had a brilliant idea. He did not voice it, even to his wife, because he could trust no one at this point. No one was looking very kindly upon him after he was forced to admit his lies, and, while he hoped to correct it eventually, he was not risking any other faux pas.

His idea was to give Azula something she wanted. Perhaps if she remembered what their father thought was appropriate, she would be shocked into getting over her Izumi obsession.

Nothing with Azula was certain; this could make it worse.

Zuko did not have a better idea, and so he went to find his sister.

She was watching Izumi play with a distressed expression on her face.

"You asked about our father," Zuko said, sitting down near her.

"Don't try to bribe me out of our meeting with the Avatar."

"I'm not. I just was going to say that I would like you to maybe talk to him and see what his idea of a healthy situation for a child is."

"He was good to me. And I thought you wanted him to still think I'm dead like everyone else."

"I will make an exception, due to the fact that Izumi seems to be an issue you refuse to drop."

"Izumi is why I came here, and I will not leave without her. I find it pathetic that you will not return her to me."

"Don't talk about this in front of—!" Ty Lee interrupted. "Sparrowkeet, go play somewhere else."

Izumi looked up, grabbed her toys, and left the room.

"What was that?" Azula snapped.

"You can't talk about the fate of a little girl in front of that little girl! That's awful! Who taught you two to parent?"

Zuko and Azula exchanged a glance.

"The father that Azula is going to have tea with this afternoon. I'm sure he can help her make the best decisions for Izumi," Zuko said. He hid his smirk, because the moment Azula spoke to their father, she would either ruin herself by following his advice or she would wake many repressed memories to make her sympathize with Zuko's plight.

It was probably going to be the first one.

* * *

"Well, you're alive," said Ozai as he sat down across from his daughter.

Her hands were on the table in the palace. She knew she looked like a ghost because she was one outside of this gilded cage. Maybe he looked pleased; maybe he looked apathetic. Azula used to be able to read him, but she was too caught in her own recollections to think about it.

"What a joyous fact," Azula replied. She met his gaze and he did not look away. Neither would do it first; neither would blink first.

"No one bothered to tell me that _joyous fact_." Ozai studied her and Azula felt a chill, a sickness in her stomach. "No one seems to know, for that matter, seeing as I was at your funeral."

"So was I," Azula had to reply.

"Who couldn't resist watching their own funeral?" he admitted in complete earnest.

"Right." Azula was not sure where to direct this conversation.

She felt sick because she blamed him for her losing Izumi in the first place. Azula gave up her baby because the entire time she was pregnant she could not stop thinking about him. Of course she knew she was too much like her father.

The scars from the slices he inflicted never faded.

But Azula did change her mind. She was here because Azula was her own person now, not dictated by anything but her own mature desires and actions. People grow up after all of this time, and Azula was no exception.

"I think she would be much better off with me," Azula said.

Ozai did not have the reaction Azula expected. He looked an awful lot like Zuko did when he heard that news. " _Why_?"

"You sound like all of them," Azula snapped with a haughty edge. "She would be because I am her mother, obviously, and she likes me, and I do have a place where we both could live that is lonely even for my liking. I grew up. I am an adult and I deserve my child back. I missed too much of her life."

"That's sentimental." Ozai gave her a moment to look victorious before crushing her with his opinion. "You want to take her to spite Zuko."

" _No_ ," Azula snarled. "I want her because she is rightfully mine and Zuko has a habit of stealing things that are rightfully mine."

Well, he could not disagree with that.

"I know the feeling. Perhaps that is true," Ozai said. Azula disliked his false wisdom. Azula disliked how they had so much in common. _Everything_ in common. If she never could be near Izumi or touch Izumi or say a cold word to Izumi, she would probably _lose_ Izumi.

Azula dismissed those concerns. She was better than her father and far more deserving.

"It is true," she said. "I will not leave this palace, I will not stop tormenting her captors, I will not stop slowly seizing control of her life until I walk out of that door with her and never have to return."

He was startled. "You don't want to live in the lap of luxury?"

"Not if I have to share it with _her_." It was evident that she was speaking of Ty Lee.

Ozai sighed. "That's a very long time to be hung up on a girl who continuously betrays you. Just make Izumi yours bit by bit and coerce them into letting you stay here. Then no one can complain about you ripping her from her home or whatever I'm sure they're calling it, but she turns against her parents. Children are incredibly easy to manipulate."

Azula recoiled. She calmed herself quickly and said, "And I thought your best ideas were exclusively ones you stole from me."

"If you're so caught up on the girl, well, I don't know who wouldn't want you." That chilled Azula to the bone. It reminded her of the negatives.

There were both pros and cons to reclaiming her baby and her father so cavalierly saying _that_ was a con. Maybe it was a pro; she could have the incentive of raising a child better than he did. She did not think of Izumi as an object, right? She didn't!

A sensation on her skin made her snap back to reality.

"Don't touch my hand or I will burn your fingers off." That prompted uncomfortable silence. Azula knew her father gave her decent wisdom and she gave him meager credit for it. She also would shameless steal his ideas, like he did with hers for years. "I could take her back. Everyone has a weakness to exploit. She has a myriad."

Azula wondered why Zuko let this conversation happen.

* * *

Azula and Ty Lee get heated and not in the fun way.

Princess Azula was playing with Princess Izumi, thinking fondly of her plan with Mai, and feeling quite proud of herself for being a better parent than Ozai, when Izumi abandoned her in an instant screaming for her _mom_.

It was not even Izumi so carelessly leaving Azula to embrace Ty Lee.

It was that word.

Azula and Ty Lee stood across from each other in the center of the room.

"I am _mom_. _I_ am _mom_ ," Azula demanded. She _knew_ she was right and Ty Lee was the twisted psychopath now. They flipped roles.

"No, you aren't," Ty Lee said through clenched teeth. Her most terrifying war face still looked slightly like a smile. "You're not even mother or mommy or mama or any of those other words. You always will be, at absolute best, Aunt Azula."

Azula had no words; she had firebending.

Ty Lee had no patience; she had a counterattack.

Both girls had a foul taste in their mouths – the ashes of a disintegrated love.

* * *

Zuko never thought he would say what he was about to say.

Why did he have to be the bad guy even when he wasn't the bad guy? Was that normal? Was becoming responsible somehow making him a villain all over again?

"Ty Lee. . ." he began. She looked up at him and he almost changed his mind, but he sighed. "I think your fight with Azula was bad and I think you two should maybe try to uh. . ."

"Get back together?" Ty Lee suggested, sarcastically sweet.

"I think you two should try to be slightly more civil with each other. Of all people, I think you have a right to be pissed off about all of this. It _is_ her who forced this on _you_ so I understand, but she is not going to be the one to step forward and try to make things better."

"Sounds good. I'll go talk to her right now. Maybe we'll kiss and make up."

"Why are you so angry? What did I..." It was too late; she had walked away already.

Maybe she _was_ going to try out his suggestion.

* * *

"I am becoming very tired of people knocking on my door. I don't like people to intrude on my—"

Ty Lee opened the door. "Privacy?"

"I could have been undressed. Or sleeping. Or... something else I suppose."

"I don't care about anything of those things. I've seen you undressed, I've seen you sleeping, I've seen you at your absolute worst doing awful and horrifying things. I also don't care that much about your privacy when you decided you wanted to come live in my house whether I like it or not," Ty Lee rattled off and Azula stared blankly.

Azula refused to acknowledge such insolence.

"Do not talk to me like that," Azula said and Ty Lee scowled. Azula then turned to face her and gave her a look of utter remorse. It was an emotion Azula found very easy to fake. "You did me a favor with Izumi. I do find you deplorable for holding her from me, however, I am royalty and should acknowledge those who make sacrifices for my benefit."

"That's delightfully patronizing, but I'll accept." Ty Lee cautiously sat down on Azula's bed. Their eyes met, but this time it was not rage; it was. . . wistful, and Azula knew what to do.

"Did you ever hear the myth of the Water Tribe sirens?" Azula purred and Ty Lee cocked her head, genuinely curious. "You have, haven't you? They were irresistible, and dragged sailors to frigid deaths among the icebergs. The scrolls themselves say that they sang prettier than any sparrowkeet and were more beautiful than any mortal woman. I don't believe in them, but I know that every myth has a basis in fact. There are some people and some vices and some endless songs that haunt a person until they would do anything to follow them."

"Are you implying that your scavenger hunts were on par with Water Tribe sirens, because, _come on_."

"I am implying that we both succumb to that song in one way or another. Don't tell me I haven't brought out a side of you that you hid for years and years. And, well, I came for you." It was one of the best lies that Azula ever told.

Ty Lee was not sure if she could believe her, but it did make more sense than Azula suddenly deciding to mother her child.

"And Izumi?" Ty Lee asked.

"And Izumi brought out a side in me that no one, including myself, knew I had. I find death by those icebergs fairly satisfying if it means I could follow that song," Azula said and she at last had Ty Lee pinned under her thumb.

It _was_ easy.

Azula was wrong; Ty Lee was both doubtful and hopeful.

"I kind of like that side of you, but I kind of don't want to drown," Ty Lee said. She was not sure if she was any good at this metaphor poem Azula had going, but she could not break her mind free of it.

"If I vanished, do you think I would leave you a way to find me?" Azula asked and Ty Lee took a deep breath. Ty Lee did not know.

No, she did know.

She knew that it had been too long and Zuko was nothing more than a friend or a poor substitute for this girl. They both knew from their foolish games that love was not needed.

So, Ty Lee kissed her, started to undo her robe, decided it was worth it.

Inexplicably, Azula pushed her away. Ty Lee wanted to grab her by the hair and smash her into the floor, because _she_ was the one who started it, like always. Like always!

"Fine," Ty Lee said before Azula could say a word. "I guess you got kinda tired of playing with me, huh?"

Azula did not know why she did it, but she was trying to make that happen. She was clueless about her own actions, but she refused to admit that she was anything but deliberate.

And so Ty Lee fled, leaving Azula wondering if she should call after her. Azula decided that she had Mai's deal to worry about, had her meeting with the Avatar to prepare for. Ty Lee was unnecessary, despite being so appetizing.

The Fire Lady walked through the hallway back to her bedroom, her hand collecting dust from running it over the wall. Ty Lee arrived in the room she shared with Zuko. He was there. That was good.

"Are you up?" she whispered.


	12. Taken

"Do you want to play with this one?" Azula attempted, holding up a wooden dragon.

Izumi had a variety of toys laid out on the scuffed stone floor. They all looked extremely boring to Princess Azula, but she was trying to make this child like her. It should be _easy_ , like feeding a small animal bits of meat until it loves you. Unfortunately, all she seemed to have was novelty, and novelty faded fast.

"That one is awful." Izumi squinted at her mother. "You can have it."

"Thank you," Azula said, even though she wanted to snarl something vicious. It would be easier than kindness. She needed kindness. This child had to love her, and Azula would force this child to love her if it was the last thing she did. "Have you been satisfied with your childhood experiences so far?"

Izumi looked up at her like a confused puppy, her head tilted and lips pouted.

"Huh?" she asked. Her eyes reminded Azula of her own. It was a chilling revelation.

"Are you happy?" Azula rephrased, attempting an encouraging smile. It seemed to scare Izumi more than prompt her to talk.

"Yeah?" Izumi squinted, puzzled. "I love playing."

Azula did not think she was going to get proper answers out of her child. Izumi seemed very intuitive and precocious, much like her real mother and much unlike her adoptive mother. It was easy to forget that she was talking to a child, in a very eerie way.

"Me too," Azula lied, smiling again at the little girl.

Izumi adopted the demeanor of a war general. "Okay, so, this is how the game works…"

Azula was pretty certain that her daughter was just like her.

* * *

Azula found Zuko with the intention of picking a fight. It should be easy. They had been having the exact same argument since Azula first returned to the palace.

"I'm done with this," Zuko said after a long tangent that Azula did not listen to.

"I hate you, Zuko," Azula expressed coldly. "I'm not saying that from a spiteful or angry place. I am stating a fact. It is partly cloudy outside and I hate you."

Zuko sighed, his patience long gone. "I just want to reiterate that you are trying to steal my child, and this is definitely the most ridiculous argument we have ever had."

"She's not your child," Azula snapped, getting far too invested in this faux battle. She was not supposed to slip into that state of mind. "I did not give her to you. I gave her to my ex-girlfriend. I would never give my child to you."

Zuko crossed his arms, looking at her like she was a joke. "Oh, really? Because you've been talking a lot about how you gave her to me to give her a better life."

"I gave her to Ty Lee to give her a better life," Azula repeated for the trillionth time. It was her story and she would stick to it until the bitter end.

"Say that again and listen to yourself this time," Zuko said.

Azula felt something hot inside of her snap, crash and burn, lighting her blood on fire. Maybe she did feel this strongly about Zuko's 'ownership' of Izumi.

"Of all the bitches in this world I hate," Azula snarled, advancing on Zuko step by step, "she is the most trustworthy I know. She has always done whatever I say. I have forgiven her sole exception because she played scavenger hunts just to sleep with me, which was hysterical. You have never played a scavenger hunt to sleep with me."

"You clearly don't know the qualifications of a parent," Zuko replied. He looked angry, but he was not nearly at the point Azula wanted to push him to.

"Neither do you. We were basically orphans," Azula retorted, livid. "I talked to father the other day. Think about our childhood for a moment."

"I've learned how to face my childhood over the course of years," Zuko explained, steadfast and calm. Azula wanted to rip him to shreds with her nails. She almost could feel the satisfying hot blood dripping from her fingers. Zuko continued, not valuing his life or limb, "You've been missing. Why do you want her? Really. You just showed up out of nowhere and you never fully explained why you're so desperate for her."

"I have been watching for the entirety of her life," Azula said for the first time. She had never planned to admit that she had watched for so long, despite making a home for herself by the beach. Her exile was lonely and she thought about Izumi from time to time for years. Who could blame her? "I never intended to approach her until I saw mother with her. I am her mother and I should have her. I live somewhere nice. I'm as stable as you are. I'd take your wife with me if she were mostly alright with it."

"I don't think she'd agree," Zuko said. "Last night she—"

"I think you're in love with her and she will never love you back," Azula snapped, about to exhale smoke or have another breakdown. "Do you serial pine after my friends? It's sad."

She did not want to know what Ty Lee did last night. Whatever happened after their argument could not be pleasant for Azula to hear about.

"This argument is very familiar to me," Zuko said and Azula wondered how he did not notice that within seconds. He was as dense as fog, in her opinion. "Stop snapping at me about this every chance you get and maybe prove why you would be a decent parent."

"I shouldn't have to," Azula whispered, and she wouldn't have to, so long as tonight went smoothly.

"But you do. You have to prove it to yourself if you don't prove it to me," Zuko said and Azula shook her head. He was wrong; she knew he was wrong.

"There is a way around everything," Azula said. It was true; she had always found one. "There is a way around your absurd clinging to my little girl."

"She's as much mine as she is yours."

Azula had no more tolerance for her brother's stubbornness.

* * *

That evening, Mai knocked on Azula's door.

The princess opened it and stepped aside so that Mai could enter the room. Mai kept her distance when she was around Azula and the princess could not blame her for it. They had bad blood that would never evaporate, working together or not.

"How did the fight with Zuko go?" Mai asked quietly, shutting the door behind her as she spoke.

"Perfectly. We're on for tonight." Azula smirked and congratulated herself. This would work, and she knew that.

"You do realize the caliber of crime we're committing," Mai said and Azula felt a surge of anxiety. Azula would not let Mai have second thoughts. "Kidnapping a royal is beyond frowned upon in society. Any society, not just ours."

Azula walked to Mai and stood close enough to her to feel her body heat radiating. "It is not kidnapping if she is mine."

"If you think so." Mai shrugged.

Azula knew that Mai cared. Her demand was strange and Azula wondered why Mai wanted it.

 _"_ _Take me with you,"_ Mai had demanded in exchange for her help.

What could Mai be running from?

Azula would find out.

* * *

Princess Azula crept into Princess Izumi's room as everyone slept.

Her every footstep was silent. She did not make a single mistake on her route. Slowly, Azula knelt beside Izumi's bed.

"Wake up," Azula whispered, brushing Izumi's hair out of her face.

The small princess came to.

"Uhhh?" she murmured, still half-asleep.

"Stay quiet. We're going on a vacation to the beach. It's a surprise for your dad. Me and Mai are supposed to take you there," Azula whispered and Izumi smiled.

"I love surprises," she whispered and Azula nodded.

It was very easy to lie to children, Azula learned.

Azula got up and helped Izumi out of her bed.

"Pack up anything you want to bring," Azula said, handing Izumi a leather bag.

The little girl happily obeyed her real mother.

* * *

Mai waited outside. Azula carried Izumi and two bags out into the courtyard.

They planned to sneak out the way they did when they were kids. There was an escape that not a single guard could spot, and both women knew it well, even years later. Izumi fell asleep in Azula's arms as they followed the careful steps.

Mai, Azula and Izumi were in Caldera before they knew it.

Now they just had to get to the beach.

It couldn't be _that_ hard.

* * *

Ty Lee woke up in the morning and went to go wake up her little girl. She saw an empty bed and a room devoid of many toys with an ajar drawer.

"Izumi!" Ty Lee called into the hallway. "Izumi, get in here! You know you're not allowed to run around early!"

This was what she got for raising a firebender's child. Izumi probably would be a very powerful bender when she grew up, and also wake abysmally early.

Izumi did not respond and Ty Lee became nervous. The Fire Lady looked around and then hurried back to her daughter's bedroom. She found a note when she started examining the drawers.

 _All I want is my property back. Love, Azula._

The 'love' was a new level of sickening mockery. Ty Lee screamed.

Zuko ran to her rescue while she sunk onto the floor, sobbing.,

"Don't cry. Please don't cry," Zuko said, kneeling next to her.

Ty Lee handed Zuko the sweaty, crumpled note.

He read it and tore it to pieces.

"We'll get her back."

"You kind of sucked at finding her in the past." Ty Lee pushed herself up and ran to their bedroom before he could say a word.

Zuko glared at the torn up parchment.

He would find her, and he would take Izumi back, and Azula would be locked up for eternity.


	13. This One's Gonna Hurt

**_AN:_** _I'm trying third person omniscient. I got stuck on whether I wanted Mai or Azula's POV at two parts, so I gave it a shot being from both of their perspectives. I hope I did okay with that. There's also some Tyzula this chapter thanks to flashbacks. I've been missing it. It's Slowburn in this story, but I love it so much._

* * *

Zuko sat across from Ty Lee, trying to figure out what he was supposed to do. He knew he should have never let Azula in that night. As he felt panic and grief seize him by the heart, he thought about the sound of the rain on the roof moments before Azula's arrival and how peaceful his life was before his sister crashed into it.

He _knew_ she wanted Izumi and he also knew that she would stop at nothing to get what she wanted.

"I should have expected this. I'm sorry; it's my fault," Zuko darkly said after minutes of silence. Ty Lee clutched the letter tighter in her hand. She did not cry, but she had tears in her eyes.

"It isn't," Ty Lee replied, shaking her head. "I've given her more second chances than you ever have. I let her lure me to her again and again."

Zuko had never heard her sound dejected before, but she did now.

"You love her," Zuko said, somewhere between a consolation and an accusation. He was not sure where his tone landed on that spectrum. "Of course you hope she'll change. I shouldn't."

Ty Lee just sat there for a few moments, folding and unfolding the letter Azula left. Zuko felt pain wash over him. It came like the waves of the sea.

"You love her too," Ty Lee whispered and they said no more.

No more needed to be said.

* * *

Azula had a house nestled amongst sharp and rough cliffs. The ocean thundered below and Mai looked down with disdain. This was no place for a small child. Izumi slept with her head rested on Azula's shoulder, supported by only Azula's left arm. Mai figured that they were moments away from the tiny princess plummeting to her death.

"They call it Shipwreck Bay," Azula announced, walking to her front door.

Mai was not surprised by the title of this deadly place. It seemed fitting for Princess Azula, however. An evil fortress disguised as a cute beach house.

Izumi stirred and Azula thankfully caught her before Mai had to—Mai already lunged out before she saw that the princess somehow had it handled.

Giving birth did not necessarily make someone a mother, or at least a good one. Mai doubted Azula was going to be as prodigious at this as she was at everything else, and someone had to prevent Izumi's death. Or Azula's death, Mai was loath to admit.

That was why Mai demanded that she come. Azula was going to kidnap Izumi regardless of what Mai said or did, and she could not believe that she developed a conscience. Life is easiest when you are selfish.

Mai helped Azula with the door and they walked into the immaculately decorated house. Azula clearly did not have a lot to do with her time while living as a fugitive, or perhaps this was just how a crazy person like her would decorate with such aggressive precision.

Azula shut the door behind them. Izumi sneezed.

"It's dusty," Azula said in a sweet voice that Mai had never heard before. It made Mai grimace. "I know."

Izumi smiled faintly. Azula's heart fluttered and she remembered why she put so much effort into reclaiming her property. Izumi made her happy and she deserved to be happy. Zuko and Ty Lee had _plenty_ in their life. Azula had nothing; they both took it from her.

They could not take her daughter too.

Azula set her child down and went to find a bed for her. Izumi no longer fit in a dresser drawer, which was unfortunate. Azula's home was not equipped to have more than one inhabitant, and now she had both Mai and Izumi. Mai, of course, could sleep out on the rocks for all Azula cared, but Izumi needed the best.

"Any ideas for a bed for my kid?" Azula asked Mai, swallowing her pride for the sake of her baby.

"You could share with Izumi," said Mai, but Azula glared at her. Mai raised her hands in surrender, taken aback by how odd it was.

"That is not funny," Azula snarled, prompting Mai to cock an eyebrow.

"I wasn't joking. It seems like an easy solution," Mai said. Azula clenched her jaw. "Okay, now you're just irrationally angry."

Azula scowled. "I have no desire to damage my child. She deserves a better childhood than me or my brother or you or Ty Lee. That is why I reclaimed her; he could not give her that."

Mai did not ask Azula why she was so adamantly opposed to a normal maternal behavior. _Azula didn't have a mother,_ she thought. That was probably the problem.

"Okay, okay, I'll sleep out here and she can sleep in your closet or something," Mai suggested, kicking all of the mats around the floor to make a small bed for herself. She knew she should not have come, and she knew she should leave right now, but she also knew she would not leave Izumi alone with Azula.

"Good enough," spat Azula and Mai struggled not to reconsider moving in with this nightmare of a woman.

She tried her best to keep her reason in mind.

* * *

Katara tapped on Zuko's shoulder. He had been staring blankly at a wall for an unhealthy amount of time and she knew he had to be stopped.

"I want to help you find Izumi," Katara gently said, patting his arm and drawing his attention. "Aang can't; he's occupied. But I can. You, me and Ty Lee. We're enough to take your sister. We've all defeated her before, and most people can't say that."

Zuko nodded. He was having trouble focusing on reality by now. His little Sparrowkeet being at the mercy of Azula was just beginning to sink in. Nothing made sense to his addled brain when his daughter was kidnapped by the evilest person who ever lived.

"That's… a good idea," he replied. "We can leave tomorrow morning."

He knew he would not sleep, but his exhaustion made it impossible to even consider the effort leaving tonight would take.

"Goodnight, Zuko." Katara frowned, and then planted a friendly kiss on his cheek and went to talk to Ty Lee.

Fire Lord Zuko kept staring at the wall.

* * *

 _Ty Lee was fourteen and freshly dating Azula. They lay on the ground outside together, staring up at the sky. She felt self-conscious about how much she was talking; upsetting Azula was her worst fear._

 _"_ _Did you ever think about kids?" she asked. Azula turned over to face her, their eyes meeting. Ty Lee could not help but smile. "I mean…"_

 _Yeah, Ty Lee had no excuse for her question._

 _"_ _I do not have to think about it. I have to do it. It isn't like Zuko is ever going to get that throne," Azula replied, sighing softly. Her breath looked like smoke in the cold Earth Kingdom air._

 _"_ _So, I guess you wouldn't want them with me," Ty Lee said, hoping she was not going too far. If Azula thought she was out of line, she did not say it._

 _"_ _You never know." Azula smirked. She quite liked leaving Ty Lee guessing._

 _She turned away to stare up at the stars again as Ty Lee tried to solve the impossible enigma of Azula._

* * *

"What do you eat?" Azula asked Izumi and Mai snorted. Azula shot her a quick glare, but she did not apologize.

"A lot of foods. My favorite is melon," chirped the girl nicknamed Sparrowkeet. "Do you have melon?"

"No," replied Azula. "I don't have anything, actually, but Mai will go shopping."

"Why me?" Mai demanded, clenching a fist.

"Because I said so, that's why," snapped Azula.

Mai wanted to argue, but she knew that Izumi would starve to death once she got into a stalemate with her ex-friend.

The things she did for this kid.

* * *

 _"_ _You only are what I want you to be," sweetly said Azula to Ty Lee._

 _They were fourteen and freshly in love. Ty Lee accepted any sign of affection from Azula because she would never love someone as much as she loved the princess._

 _"_ _Okay," Ty Lee whispered, enchanted. Who did not fall to pieces beneath the scrutiny of those golden eyes? "What am I, then?"_

 _Azula smirked, satisfied by Ty Lee's response._

 _"_ _I have yet to decide," said Azula._

 _Ty Lee closed her eyes. Anything was worth it if it garnered the attention of a goddess._

 _"_ _I'll wait for as long as you want," Ty Lee whispered, hypnotized eternally._

 _Azula was still not wholly sure how to do this dating thing. She heard silence, saw Ty Lee staring at her lips, felt the air between them. That was when you were supposed to kiss someone._

 _She looked forward and cautiously kissed Ty Lee's lips. Ty Lee kissed her back and Azula set one hand on the back of her girlfriend's head and the other on the small of her back._

 _Azula pulled away hastily when she felt fire surging where their hips made contact._

 _Ty Lee wondered why the kiss stopped and hoped she had not done something wrong._

* * *

Ty Lee was not sure what to do. Azula gave Izumi to her and Ty Lee never stopped to think about if the princess would want her back. It should have been a logical thought, but Ty Lee was too consumed by the crying and sudden responsibility. Once she was with Zuko, she did not stop thinking about Azula every night, but stopped thinking Azula would ever come back.

It was because of that safe ownership that Ty Lee let herself love her little Sparrowkeet. Otherwise, she would not let herself get so attached. All things related to Azula were not worth loving because they all went away in the end. Maybe Ty Lee should have known better.

She swallowed, slung her bag over her shoulder and followed Katara and Zuko.

They had no map, no general direction, no clues.

But Ty Lee was pretty sure Azula could not resist luring her back in.

Her lethal song was too sweet for Ty Lee to ignore, and too irresistible for Azula to sing.


	14. Melon

Azula got home from the market with melon and a few other food items.

When she walked through the door, she heard her child wailing. She sighed as she set down her bag and went to find her child. Mai was sitting across from her, having given up on comforting the tiny princess, and Azula stood and stared.

"Are you… sad?" Azula asked. Mai made a sound similar to laughter. Izumi cried louder. "What happened? Did you hurt her, Mai?"

Azula knelt and awkwardly hugged Izumi and Izumi pulled away. She kept crying as Azula tried to figure out what to do. Mai was no help, of course.

Finally, Izumi choked out, "Why didn't you take me with you?"

Azula narrowed her eyes. "I do not recall you _asking_ , and I gave you ample time to do so."

Izumi continued crying hysterically.

Azula groaned and rubbed her temples.

* * *

After Izumi kicked, cried and screamed all of her anger out, Mai sliced the melon and Izumi was shoving the slippery slices into her mouth, which was the first time she had shut up in hours. Azula had no idea that children _talked_ so much. She wondered how they managed to speak for hours on end when they had so little knowledge of the world.

"So," said Mai, "I'm thinking that Shipwreck Bay sounds like a horrible place to raise a child."

"Are you suggesting that we move or something?" Azula asked, quite dissatisfied with the suggestion.

Mai shook her head. "No, I'm just pointing that out."

Azula tried to find a decent rebuttal but came up short. Shipwreck Bay had earned its very menacing name.

"I think it is a good hiding place. It is remote, it is dangerous, it is adequate," Azula said instead of something smarter. It was the best she could do when she was waiting in dread for Izumi to finish her melon. "I _was_ on the run for a very long time. They won't find us here, which is the important thing."

"Who won't find us here?" Izumi asked, stepping down from her seat and abandoning her empty bowl.

Azula picked up a napkin and wiped Izumi's sticky face. She hoped she was doing this right; it was not like she had a good mother as an example.

"From the bad people," Azula said, giving the best lie she could.

Izumi's eyes widened. "What bad people?"

"The ones your parents wanted me to protect you from," Azula said with a forced saccharine smile. She tried to look trustworthy.

Izumi looked scared. Mai looked exasperated. Azula looked at them both and frowned.

"Nice," Mai whispered.

"Oh, I'd like to see you do better," Azula snapped, walking away.

* * *

 _A fourteen-year-old Ty Lee snuck into Azula's bedroom. Her acrobatics paid off frequently, like when she climbed and jumped her way up here, and balanced on the very thin sill. Azula left it open, waiting for her._

 _"_ _It's about time you got here," Azula whispered, studying Ty Lee._

 _Ty Lee walked to Azula and hugged her. Azula stepped out of the embrace and Ty Lee loathed losing the contact. Then Azula kissed Ty Lee. With her tongue, she lightly traced the shape of Ty Lee's lips. It made her head spin._

 _Slowly, Ty Lee's hand curled around Azula's elbow and she gently held onto her, fearing the princess was not quite real. The sexual portion of their relationship was very far from developed. She kissed Azula and reluctantly let go._

 _"_ _I love you, Azula," Ty Lee said._

 _"_ _I know," Azula replied._

 _The princess smirked and Ty Lee's heart screamed._

* * *

Azula was asleep when the knock coming from the inside of her closet woke her with a start. She instantly jumped up, lit up her room and looked around; years as a fugitive made her very jumpy. Cautiously, she crossed her room and opened the door.

She saw no one until she looked down; it was Izumi. Who else would it be? It _was_ Izumi's new bedroom after all.

"I'm scared. The ocean is loud and I'm so scared of bad people now," Izumi whined, clenching her small fists. "Can I stay with you?"

"You can sleep on my floor, if you'd like," Azula said, offering the kindest of kindnesses.

Izumi pouted. "I don't wanna sleep on your floor."

Azula remembered that mothers were supposed to be selfless. That had to be the absolute worst part of the job.

"Fine, I will sleep on the floor and you can sleep in my bed. I will be close, so you know that I am protecting you from bad people and… the ocean, I guess. Although, you would be far safer inside of a closet…" Azula decided not to think too much about the logic of a child and tore the blankets from her bed. She set them on the floor.

Izumi glared at Azula for no good reason at all, and left the room to go stay with Mai.

"Fine," Azula snarled under her breath, "be that way."

* * *

An hour after dawn, Mai found Azula on the edge of a cliff. She was burning the damp air and it would be beautiful to someone who thought anything was beautiful.

"Good morning," Azula said coldly.

"There's no such thing," Mai replied, standing and looking out at the restless seas. This was not a happy place to live, even though Mai had never found one of those.

"Such a funny joke," said Azula, although she did not laugh.

"Izumi is really shaken up about the lie you told her," said Mai, which earned her a glare. "What? She jabbered all about how freaked out she was last night when she came in to stay with me. It was so boring. I think she put herself to sleep with the ramblings."

"It is not my fault if she is scared. I had to say _something_ ," Azula said. Mai was not surprised that the princess seemed to believe that wholeheartedly. "I also don't know why you care."

Mai did not have a good explanation. She just knew that Azula was not the world's best mother, but no one could change the princess's mind about that.

"I don't care," she answered. "Why would I?"

Azula did not respond.

Mai walked away.


	15. Crashing Down

Azula stared through her window at the garden outside of her home.

She crafted it into straight little furrows like lines of well-trained soldiers. When she used to look at it, she saw her victory and her progress as a human being. She could take care of herself. When she looked at it now, she saw nothing but a scar.

"You took good care of yourself," said Mai. She spoke casually and carelessly but Azula knew it was a high compliment coming from her. "I never thought you could. Maybe that's why it was so easy to believe you were dead."

"I adapt, I learn, I am brilliant. You must know that," Azula coolly replied.

"You took good care of yourself but I don't think you can take care a child. I think you should go back to Zuko and learn to care for her. I'm not his biggest fan but he's a pretty fair person. He won't keep you away from Izumi, even after kidnapping her."

Azula pivots to face Mai with fire in her eyes.

" _You_ helped me. _You_ supported this. What changed?"

"Seeing the reality of the situation. I guess I just wanted to do something dangerous again and to get away from everywhere. We need to hand her over."

" _No_ ," said Azula. "We will not, you will not, and you will _never_ disobey an order from me."

"I am not your subordinate anymore."

"Then leave. I have no need for you to suddenly start _caring_ at such an inconvenient time. I will adjust to being Izumi's mother and you will respect that," Azula said. Mai sighed.

"Whatever." She shrugged. "I just thought I'd throw the suggestion out there. It's your life if you want to screw it up."

"Good. I am glad you can see clearly."

* * *

Azula sat at a table overlooking the ocean, Mai situated across from her. They both had tea in their hands and did not speak at all. That was pleasant; Azula _did_ like that one quality of her old friend's.

Mai, however, broke the beautiful silence by asking, "Were you with a lot of people while you were on the run? I mean, you got pregnant."

"Yes. Mostly girls, though. That avoided such a mistake but I lost quite a bit of my luck after Sozin's Comet." Azula could recall waking between two women at once and feeling absolutely nothing. She was numb for years. Those scavenger hunts she left and those nights she shared with Ty Lee were the only times in which she truly enjoyed herself.

But Ty Lee chose Zuko and Azula would loathe her eternally for it.

"And you chose Ty Lee to take care of your baby. You usually have pretty good decision making skills. You make choices that only have yourself in mind, yes, but you tend to think better than that."

"I didn't expect her to run off with Zuko," said Azula, glaring at the memory with a bitter taste in her mouth.

Mai shook her head. "Not the answer to my question."

"You did not _ask_ a question," eloquently snarled Princess Azula. "You commented on how I should not have left Izumi with Ty Lee. I was in no condition to take care of a child, but now I am, and I am doing an excellent job of it."

Mai remembered the child they ran away for. "Where's Izumi?"

"I…" Azula glanced around. "I don't know. I think she's probably sleeping. Kids sleep a lot."

She would never admit that she was overwhelmed by it all. She could never accept that Zuko was far better at being a parent than she was. She _had_ to be the _best_ at all she did and she _should_ be the best at raising her own baby girl.

"I'll go check on her," said Mai, standing up and heading back into the house.

Azula continued staring out at the ocean.

* * *

In the evening, Azula gave Izumi a bath and tucked her into bed. She sat down and ran her fingers through Izumi's sopping wet hair.

"You look like me," Azula said, her eyes crinkling when she smiled. "That is a good thing, but I have no idea what I would do if you ever get knocked up like I did."

"Knocked up?" Izumi asked and Azula blushed bright red.

"Forget I said that," Azula said swiftly, trying to salvage the situation. "I just want you to know that I love having you here. Living with you is something I should've done a long time ago."

"I like it too," Izumi said, brightly grinning. She almost mirrored Ty Lee when she did that.

"It probably will not last forever. Promise me that, when this fantasy comes crashing down, you will still consider me your one and only mother," Azula whispered, again petting her daughter's hair. Izumi nodded.

"You're my mom," said Izumi.

"Good," Azula said, patting her baby girl's head.

She left her daughter to sleep.

* * *

That night, after Azula managed to get Izumi to bed, she sat with Mai in front of the fireplace. It crackled as it heated the room. The seaside always was so cold.

"Tell me why you wanted Ty Lee so badly. You had a secret affair for years. You gave her your kid. You can't hate her anymore," said Mai, thoughts of it stuck in her head.

"I…" Azula wanted to lie, but she decided against it. "I was consumed by rage for a very long time, but I eventually realized it was all just guilt. I should have claimed her earlier, but I didn't. Everything would be better for me if I had."

She sighed and stared at the fire.

"We should go home," Mai said and Azula shot her a glare. "It's the best thing to do. You have to know that."

Azula shook her head. But then she nodded.

Azula stated, "We kidnapped a royal child. We probably will go to prison."

"Zuko won't do that. We'll just cry and he'll let us off with a slap on the wrist," Mai said and Azula smirked. For a moment, she almost forgot that they were supposed to be enemies.

"We can never go home, Mai," Azula said. "We don't have one. I don't, at least."

"I never did," said Mai.

They could not consider their unusually personal conversation because Izumi entered the room and ran to Azula.

* * *

 **Seven months** came and passed. Azula stood in her garden and watched her daughter play. She still was not great at this whole mommy thing, but she thought she was stuck with Izumi for better or for worse.

Izumi ran to her with a handful of weeds. She thrust them into Azula's hand and the mother accepted them.

"Let's go get cleaned up for dinner," said Azula, feeling more like a parent than she ever thought she would be. She was better than her own, at least.

"Okay!" Izumi cheered, grabbing Azula by the wrist and following her inside.

Azula helped her baby girl clean up before Mai walked in. It felt funny. Almost like a family, although there was nothing romantic between Azula and Mai. The truth was, Mai was on a weekly venture out into the world to keep them all from dying of starvation.

Izumi broke free of Azula and ran to Mai. She hopped up and down as she sang, "Did you bring me anything? Did you bring me anything? Did you bring me anything?"

Mai set the bags down on the table and withdrew a new doll and a candy. Izumi took them and grinned. Azula could not find the name for the feeling in her chest.

Azula sat down for dinner with Izumi and Mai when someone knocked on the door. That never had happened before; Azula meticulously built her isolation. They knocked again. And again. When no one answered, they just broke it down.

The princess jumped up and pulled Izumi into her arms. Mai picked up her dinner knife.

Azula took a step back when she saw her brother and his friends.

"We followed her," said Zuko, gesturing at Mai. "You have to come home."

"And if I say no?" Azula snapped. In response, Katara held up handcuffs. Mai threw her arm in front of Azula, narrowly averting more charges that could send them to the Boiling Rock.

Azula prepared for a fight before she saw Izumi run to her adoptive parents. Ty Lee burst into her tears when she hugged her little girl and Azula sighed. She could not believe she was making this decision.

She strode forward and put her hands out. Azula accepted the handcuffs. Katara sighed when she put them on her and Azula glared at her with bared teeth.

"Do you understand the consequences you're facing?" Zuko asked her.

"Anything I have done, I can live with," said Azula, glancing around at the home she shared with her baby for as long as she could keep her.

Zuko walks around to stand in front of Azula.

"That's the difference between you and me. I can't."

* * *

Azula sat alone in a cell. After an eternity, a visitor entered. Ty Lee, of course. Azula would not expect anyone else to show up.

"You didn't fight as much as I thought you would," said Ty Lee.

Azula looked at her with her lips curled in disgust. "I knew it would happen eventually. I knew I only had Izumi for as long as you and Zuko would let me. But I love her enough that I did not care."

Ty Lee rubbed her lips together, furrowing her brow. The words hurt and Azula took great satisfaction from it. Cautiously, Ty Lee sat down in front of the bars and stared at Azula.

"I don't care what you did with Izumi—I know you took good care of her—and I don't care about anything else you've ever done since Sozin's Comet. I don't care what you did to survive when you were on the run the first time. I don't care what you did out of spite or rage or selfishness… I honestly couldn't care less. You're here—and you're perfect. You always were and you always will be."

Azula glanced up, glares, and returned to staring at her feet.

"You can talk to me," said Ty Lee.

Azula again merely shot Ty Lee a dirty look.

"You're trapped in there for a while. I'm just trying to start conversation," continued Ty Lee.

Azula cleared her throat and spoke. "I am not trapped in here. If I wanted, I could've grabbed your hand, burned it to the core, broken your every charred bone, grabbed the key you left hanging from your belt like an idiot, smashed your pretty face against the bars to knock you out and have escaped by now."

Ty Lee's eyes widened as she exclaimed, "What's _wrong_ with you?"

Azula smirked. "You wanted conversation."

Ty Lee laughed.

Azula forgot how much she liked that sound.


	16. Behind Bars

From her cell, "I want to see my daughter," Azula demanded of Zuko. She was still behind bars over something she found to be ridiculous.

"You _kidnapped her_ ," Zuko said, continuing to give that ill-used word emphasis. In Azula's opinion, he sounded like a complete and total idiot.

Azula insisted, still shocked that no one was grasping this highly simple concept, "A person cannot kidnap _their own_ child."

Zuko glared at her with the fire of a thousand suns. "She's mine. You know that, and you also have to know deep down you're not a fit mother."

"I took good care of her for months," said Azula, scowling. Her brother was as immovable as he had been for the past two days. "I consider that to be fit motherhood. Very fit, in fact."

"It doesn't _matter_ if you took good care of her. When you gave her to Ty Lee you surrendered any parental rights you had. She is my daughter and I was _worried_ out of my _mind_ about her. You can't just whisk my child away to your dangerous cliff-side house!" Zuko growled in his fiercest Fire Lord tone. Azula was unafraid; Zuko could never scare her.

"I think it matters that I clearly displayed what a good parent I am, ZuZu. I returned for her and you did not hand her over like you should have, making me lose my patience. I do not know what you expected from me and so, honestly, all consequences are deserved," said Azula, glaring.

"You're right. All consequences of kidnapping a crown princess are deserved," Zuko firmly said. He no longer would be pushed around by his sister and he would make that clear. "I gave you a chance because I thought you had potential to change. Now I see you're still as selfish as ever."

Zuko turned to leave.

Azula shouted after him, "You never stopped being selfish either!"

He slammed the door behind him.

* * *

Azula paced in her prison cell. No one would let her see Izumi and she was soon going to lose her mind. She became very close with the child and over a course of time realized she should have kept her daughter all along, confused and young and scared or not.

When the door opened in the late afternoon, she expected it to be Zuko returning to question her further but instead saw Ty Lee. She looked beautiful in her expensive Fire Lady clothes. Ty Lee could have had that if she stayed with Azula years and years ago, and let Zuko die. They could have had the entire world, but, Ty Lee proved to be a traitor.

"You came back to visit me. I never would have predicted it," said Azula sarcastically, smirking at her guest. Ty Lee stopped in her tracks, blushing from embarrassment.

"I never can get away from you, can I? Not that I'd want to. I want you around and in my life and I just really like you," Ty Lee said, walking forward and smiling at Azula. That grin faded, however, when Azula did not reciprocate warmth of any kind.

"I _am_ inescapable," purred Azula.

Ty Lee smiled and said, "Izumi keeps asking about you. You're all she talks about, actually."

Azula could not hide her blush, and the trace of a smile on her lips made Ty Lee see how much she cared about the kid she got rid of years ago. In those months, she must have realized _something_ about motherhood that proved elusive before.

"That does not surprise me. She had a _real_ mother for once," confidently said Azula, walking closer to the bars. Ty Lee could feel her body heat. "You might be a decent one. _Paired_ with me."

"We're not paired," Ty Lee whispered, clenching her fists to hide her trembling fingers.

"You are mine. You always were. You always will be," Azula purred, batting her eyelashes.

"I'm not yours anymore," said Ty Lee, her heart falling into her stomach from the fear of standing up to Princess Azula, but she sounded skeptical and scared. Azula knew not _all of that_ was her terrifying presence and some of it had to be genuine second thoughts about Zuko.

"You always were and always will be," Azula replied with such vindication that Ty Lee could not protest or think of a retort. Maybe she would not have even if Azula was not so strong.

"I guess you're right," Ty Lee softly replied. She did smile, although Azula did not know what to make of how unusually timid it was. "I'm sorry I was all bold with you. I didn't mean it."

"If I did not know that, you would be in a world of pain already," Azula stated, curling her fingers around the old metal bars. Ty Lee watched wordlessly, rapt. "I know you."

"I know you too," Ty Lee said, then she examined her actions. She knew she was falling for Azula yet again and it was horrible. "But… Izumi really is my daughter now. You gave her to me."

"And you gave her to Zuko," snapped Azula, letting go of the bars. "I would have never approved of that in a thousand years. You fuck everything up, don't you? What is your worst fuck-up."

"Trusting you," said Ty Lee softly, looking away so that Azula would not draw her in.

"Ouch," Azula said sarcastically, pouting her rosy lips. "I should have never trusted _you_. You have done nothing but disappoint me. And you honestly should stop expecting to make me love you."

Ty Lee flushed red from fear, anger and a bit of embarrassment.

"What I need is to stop expecting you to be a good person so I won't be disappointed when you're not," Ty Lee admitted, forcing a smile instead of a frown. "But I really don't think you're as evil as people think you are."

"You are right; I am much worse," said Azula, satisfied with her response.

"I…" Ty Lee ran away.

Azula expected no less.

* * *

Zuko sat at dinner with his wife. Izumi declined the invitation and ate in her room again. He wondered how Azula could have screwed up his child so much that she begged to see her fake—real?—mother again, and when Zuko said no, she threw a fit and sulked.

It was absurd.

"I think Azula might be awful," said Ty Lee. "Maybe we should just leave her in that cell."

The words hurt to say. She wanted more than that but…

"I thought we agreed that we both believe that deep down she's good. Like me," stated Zuko.

Ty Lee shook her head and his expression showed apparent shock. "I don't believe in deep down," she explained, answering an unsaid question. "I believe all you are is what you do."

"Ty Lee," remarked Zuko, "that's the most depressing thing you've ever said."

"It's true, though. I know you think you were deep down whatever you were but I just think you were what you did or something. I don't know. I'm not a philosopher. I just wish she would do…" Ty Lee did not know what to say. She did not know what she wanted from Azula.

Zuko said, blatantly sad, "You still love her, don't you?"

Ty Lee furrowed her brow, then softly smiled, then wiped her lips clean to keep her expression blank. She asked plainly, "Was it that obvious?"

"Then redeem her," he said, neglecting his food further by pushing it aside so he could lean across the table and lock eyes with Ty Lee.

"I don't think I have that much power over Azula," Ty Lee said, but then an idea hit her. "Only one person could redeem Azula. Her daughter. Izumi."

" _Our_ daughter, and I am not putting Izumi at more risk," said Zuko.

"I thought you wanted to save your sister," replied Ty Lee.

He stared at his feet thoughtfully. Then, at last, he looked up.

"Maybe Izumi can visit her," Zuko said.

 _Maybe_ , he thought, _Ty Lee is right about the psychological hold Izumi has over Azula._

While Zuko wanted to protect Izumi from Azula, he knew the damage was done. He also knew that he wanted nothing more than to help his sister, and if his daughter could do that, maybe it was a risk worth taking.

And, jealous as it made him, Izumi would love to see her birth mother.

* * *

Ty Lee escorted Izumi to the prison because Zuko knew he should not be the one to do it. The Fire Lady's heart pounded as she thought about Azula and their last exchange. She cursed the fact that Azula complicated absolutely everything in her life on a regular basis.

Izumi skipped the whole way, thrilled to see the woman who cared for her for months.

They arrived at the prison. Ty Lee spoke to a man at a desk and he had Azula brought into a room that looked like it was used for interrogation, but it was clean enough to bring a child into.

The moment she laid eyes on the elder princess, Izumi ran forward and hugged Azula tightly around her legs. How anyone could look at it and think Azula committed a dreadful crime, she did not know. In her opinion, she clearly was a better parent than Zuko and Ty Lee ever could be.

Azula set her hand on her child's head. She was _hers_ ; she was _her_ daughter and everyone needed to stop trying to steal her away.

"I missed you! I missed you, I missed you, I missed you, I missed you, I missed you, I missed you, I missed you, I missed you, I missed you! You're the bestest and I missed you!" said Izumi, stepping back and smiling up at the woman who had cared for her for the past several months. "Why did you go away? Why?"

Azula did not know where to begin. It did not seem like something she could explain to a child. At least not without admitting she was Izumi's real mother, and she did not think she was ready for that. Izumi would have to know one day, but not _to_ day.

So the elder princess just said, "Why don't we play a game? The story would bore you."

"Okay!" Izumi chirped, pleased to do anything with the woman she so admired.

Azula shot a glare at Ty Lee from across the room while her little girl was not looking.

That made the Fire Lady even _more_ confused.

* * *

Ty Lee went to visit Azula the next day.

"Seeing you play with Izumi made me think about so many things," said Ty Lee, wringing her hands. She was somehow even more afraid now than she was when she stood up to Azula. "I don't know what to do right now but I do love you still."

"We have been over this," said Azula, looking Ty Lee up and down without moving. "I _know_ that and I only wish you would figure out what else to say."

"I don't know what else to say, princess," Ty Lee said, abashed. "I just know that I keep coming to visit you because of my feelings and I don't have those feelings for Zuko but he has those feelings for me and I just wish maybe you stayed with me instead of sneaking out."

"The night I gave you Izumi?" Azula asked, although she already knew the answer.

"Yes," said Ty Lee.

After a long silence, their lips met between the bars.

Ty Lee said, "We can be together now, right? I think we'd be really good together."

"Sounds like wishful thinking."

"It's called hope, princess."

Azula did not lash out Ty Lee for speaking in such a tone to her. There was not much bravery in her words in the first place. She sounded hopeful in that tiny whisper instead of her loud, confident, girlish voice she usually spoke in.

"Maybe I could use some of that," said Azula.

Ty Lee's lips very slowly curled into a smile.


	17. Four Seasons, Two Loves

_Weeks before Azula was captured, Zuko took a seat next to Ty Lee on a ruby red chaise lounge in the living quarters of the palace. His wife was a mess; she did not even bother braiding her hair anymore, nor did she try to repair the dark circles under her eyes with beauty treatments._

 _It was the dead of the night and they both were awake. Neither slept much anymore._

 _Zuko said in a comforting and tender tone, "I sent another team after her. They used to be in the elite forces during the war and three of them were trackers."_

 _Ty Lee turned to him, her gazed boring into his soul._

 _"_ _We would do a better job. I should go after her," Ty Lee whispered, wishing she could sound hopeful._

 _Zuko took Ty Lee's hand, carefully watching her expression to make sure she was okay with the gesture. She subtly nodded his way. He held her hand and remained silent, because he knew that was what she needed._

 _He shook his head and reluctantly gave her another reminder of why they made their difficult decision. "We gave it a fair shot but we couldn't leave the court; we can't abandon these important positions."_

 _Ty Lee's expression soured. "My position isn't important. Maybe I should just try…"_

 _"_ _Ty Lee, it's going to be okay. We'll find her," Zuko insisted, gently squeezing her hand. She slipped her sweaty fingers away._

 _"_ _We couldn't find Azula._ You _couldn't find Azula for years. She's good at hiding," Ty Lee hissed, seething with sudden rage._

 _But the anger quickly faded, Ty Lee began to sob and Zuko had_ never _hated his sister more._

* * *

 ** _WINTER_**

After her capture and her days spent behind bars, Azula learned that she was stuck in here until an indefinite hearing that would decide her fate. She ground her teeth and paced as her brother walked into the room and approached the bars.

She spun around to face him, her eyes flashing molten gold.

"I do not deserve to be imprisoned; I took care of her. I took _good_ care of her," Azula said, glaring at her brother through the bars.

"You _kidnapped_ the Crown Princess of the Fire Nation. It doesn't matter how nice of a _kidnapped_ you were. The crime is punishable by death but I'm letting you live. That's only because you for some reason are convinced you didn't permanently give her up when you abandoned her with Ty Lee," Zuko explained angrily, undeniably livid about his sister's adamant refusal to ever accept the consequences of her countless horrific actions.

"I still get to see her, right?" Azula softened her tone, knowing that would be enough to persuade her brother.

Zuko said passionately, "Only because she never stops talking about you. I love _my_ daughter and so I will not deny her that."

"She is not _your_ daughter!" Azula hissed, sneering. She knew she hurt her cause but she could not hold back anymore.

Zuko rubbed his face, his anger dissipating while Azula's remained strong. "You can be her aunt. Why is that not good enough for you? You can be important in her life and there for her whole childhood without being her mother in name. And, honestly, that was the only option and best case scenario when you chose to give her away."

"I will take what I can get, I suppose," she said with a sigh. Azula mentally added, _For now_.

Zuko said, "Your hearing is in one year exactly. You can wait until then, I imagine."

"Fine."

He nodded and left.

Azula seethed in her cell.

* * *

 ** _SPRING_**

Ty Lee sat in the palace courtyard for an outdoor dinner; it was the first of the year thanks to the temperate spring weather. Winter brought far too much rain to the Fire Nation for something like this to be enjoyable. She sipped a juice and poked at the elaborate noodle dish.

The cicada-frogs sang gleefully in the background and Ty Lee faintly smiled at the familiar sound of approaching summer. She did not have much of an appetite, but she loved this dinner.

Zuko seemed nervous and she did not know why. He gained a good deal of confidence after becoming secure in his position and she always liked that about him.

"Is something wrong? Is everything okay?" inquired Ty Lee, setting down her drink.

Zuko took a deep breath and Ty Lee's lips parted. They stared at each other for a moment before Zuko cleared his throat.

"Can I tell you something, Ty Lee?" Zuko asked, straightening his posture. His shoulders appeared broader, but his eyes still revealed his anxiety.

"Yeah. Always." He was her best friend; of course he could.

"I…" Zuko took a moment to collect his thoughts. "I think I've started to have romantic feelings for you."

Ty Lee's jaw dropped. She stared at him in shock for a moment before she composed herself and closed her mouth. Then she opened it again to exhale her response:

"Oh."

Zuko's cheeks reddened. He choked out, "Oh? Just oh?"

Ty Lee sets her palm over the top of his hand. She smiled at him and he calmed down slightly before she slowly stood up.

"I'm not leaving, but I really need to think," Ty Lee said slowly and sweetly.

Then she bolted, leaving her dinner behind. She stood, panicked, in the hallway, and then regained her bearings enough to find her bedroom. Ty Lee sat on the foot of the bed and then found it too uncomfortable, leaping to her feet and starting to pace.

She did not know how much time passed, but it was enough for Zuko to knock on the door. Ty Lee sucked in a big breath and strode over to open it, revealing her husband and best friend.

"It's okay if you don't reciprocate the feelings," Zuko said. "It's just… when we were looking for Izumi, I felt like we got closer, but maybe that was just the fear."

Ty Lee buried her face in her soft hands. "I'm not sure. I need space to figure this out because I'm so confused."

"Then take a little vacation. I can wait." He could wait forever, but he did not want to say something so dramatic and make her uncomfortable.

"I guess I could visit my sister for a little while," Ty Lee said, rubbing her sweaty palm on her clothing. "She'd like that. Izumi could even visit for a few days."

"Yeah," said Zuko, even though it broke his heart.

Ty Lee packed that very night, humming the entire time.

She needed to think, and she could not be here while she did.

* * *

 ** _SUMMER_**

In the middle of a dry, drought-ridden summer, Izumi just got back to Ty Lee after staying with her dad for a few days. She did not understand why she kept going between her mom and dad and why they did not talk to each other, but she was okay with it. She played in the meadow behind her aunt's house.

As she frolicked, she saw a beautiful tiny bird hopping along. Izumi hummed a pretty tune that her Aunt Azula often sang while they were living together. As she followed the sparrowkeet, she treaded lightly and did her very best not to spook the lovely bird.

Suddenly, a hand grasped her shoulder and the sparrowkeet frantically flew away. Izumi turned around and looked up at Ty Lee, the person holding onto her tightly.

"Why are you crying, mommy?" Izumi asked, brow knit. Her lip trembled and Ty Lee felt guilty and emotionally raw.

Ty Lee's eyes misted with a wistful look as she softly explained, "Your song, the one you were humming… it reminded me of something I miss."

"I'm sorry, mommy," Izumi said, hugging her mother's legs.

Ty Lee patted her baby girl's head. "Don't be, Sparrowkeet; it's a beautiful song and you're really good at humming."

Izumi beamed and went looking for another birdy.

.

After being exchanged yet again, Izumi played in the palace courtyard. She found another sparrowkeet and chirped at it as she hopped along, imitating the little bird. It flew up into a tree and Izumi scowled.

"You're mean!" she screamed at the bird. She pressed her hands against the tree and tried to shake it but she was small and not strong enough. Izumi growled and pushed harder, and suddenly smelled the strong scent of a campfire.

Zuko ran to her side, and pried her away from the now-charred tree.

She was a firebender. His little girl could bend and he hated himself for being so happy about that. Still, he let himself grin and pick her up.

Izumi smiled too.

"I'm so strong!" she chirped, flexing her nonexistent muscles.

Zuko just laughed.

.

Over the next few days, Izumi could not stop bending. She loved it and Zuko came to realize why most things in the Fire Nation were built from stone or metal. He knew what he had to do while she played dragon with her metal figurines.

"Do you want to visit your aunt?" Zuko inquired and Izumi feverishly nodded.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Izumi exclaimed, hopping up and down.

They went to find her and Izumi ran to her aunt while Zuko hung back and struck up conversation with a guard.

Izumi cried loud enough for the entire prison to hear, "See, look, I'm the best firebender in the whole Universe!"

Zuko cocked an eyebrow. He doubted this would end well for his precious baby girl.

"Yes," said Azula, stunning her brother and thrilling Izumi. "Yes, you are."

And that was the one and only moment when he realized that she did not steal Izumi out of spite. Maybe she actually loved her child.

Zuko did not know what to make of that madness.

* * *

 ** _AND FALL_**

When Ty Lee finally came home to the palace, Zuko was in the midst of dealing with the problem of forest fires plaguing the countryside. The droughts always lasted past summer. The Fire Nation noly had two seasons after all: the hot, dry summers and the stormy, unstable winters.

"I'm sorry that I ran away. Every night I regretted it but I just wasn't brave enough to come back. Every time you brought Izumi by I really wanted to see you but I was so scared. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. Please forgive me. I was… I was scared. Like I said, I was scared."

"Are you still scared?" Zuko asked, furrowing his brow.

Ty Lee waited a long time to reply and Zuko began to sweat about it.

"Yes," she openly admired. "But I guess I have to face my fears eventually."

 _Fears other than talking to Azula,_ she thought.

 _That's not a fear,_ she tried to convince herself, _it's a logical and reasonable conscious decision to avoid heartbreak and bodily harm._

"So, what do you think about what I said? You know, before you fled."

"Is-is action necessary about it? We're already pretending to be in love."

"I guess it's true that if you pretend to be something you become it."

"Right," said Ty Lee. She smiled, but she wondered why that was true for him but not for her.

After he stood up, she let him kiss her. She felt nothing, like always, and she could not for the life of her understand why at that moment she saw in her mind the face of the woman who kidnapped her baby Sparrowkeet.

Ty Lee did not know what to do or what to think. Azula was an adolescent romance that should not have meant anything in the long run. Zuko stood by her side for all of these years while they raised Izumi together. By all means, Ty Lee should love him by now.

Why did she not reciprocate those feelings?

What was wrong with her?

* * *

After a restless night of confusion, the next day, Ty Lee visited Azula in prison for the first time in an entire year. Last they spoke, the tension was undeniable as they whispered of hope and gazed hungrily at each other. Perhaps that was what scared Ty Lee away for so long.

"Leave us alone. We have to discuss private family matters," Ty Lee breathily ordered and the guards reluctantly obeyed.

Once Ty Lee walked inside and up to the bars, "You resisted me for a very long time," Azula purred mockingly. "Perhaps it is a record-breaking stretch."

"Well, you always draw me back somehow as bad as it really is for me to be here."

"Why? What could possibly go wrong? You are still in love with me, you always were and you always will be, and I think it is about time you accept that."

Ty Lee stepped into the cell, like an idiot. She could not help it. Azula smirked as she saw the woman in front of her.

"I need to try something," Ty Lee said and Azula tilted her head to the side.

Ty Lee stepped forward and crushed her lips against Azula's. And Azula gladly accepted that, pressing the palm of her hand against the small of Ty Lee's back. They tore at each other's clothes, weaving their way around the cell. Once they were stripped bare, Azula had Ty Lee up against the wall. Their lips connected again and again.

And together, with no regrets whatsoever, they sank to the floor.

* * *

Before her hearing, in her cell, Azula brushed her hair slowly and methodically while gazing into a borrowed mirror. She would be tried by a tribunal that would weigh how dangerous she was to society, and, if deemed safe enough for Zuko to sanction, she would be allowed home. Princess Azula knew that only one thing could make her sympathetic to anyone on the planet.

She planned to sob and be that fragile, fragile broken little sparrowkeet and then announce to the world that Izumi was _her_ daughter, and that she only wanted to make up for the years during which she was an absent mother. Azula decided to add something about regret there; perhaps that she did not regret the kidnapping but she regretted the years she spent away from her baby.

Azula smirked while she thought of her flawless defense, rehearsing the eloquent words in her buzzing bind. She subtly wrapped her eyeliner beneath her eyes to maximize how pitiful she would look when she wept openly.

The door opened. The guards that greeted her walked in with an unexpected guest. Azula was clueless as to why Ty Lee would want to associate herself with Azula during such an open and gossiped about period of time. It was quite strange.

"Do you think you'll win?" asked Ty Lee, sounding oddly as if she hoped for victory.

"Of course I do, but why would you care? I am certain my presence outside of this birdcage will disrupt your quaint little marriage."

Ty Lee wanted to argue but she was too frightened to do so. She was horrified for so many valid reasons that she could not pluck one out from the mess.

"I can take care of my marriage," Ty Lee said softly, her eyes averted. "It's not a real one."

 _Unless Zuko has anything to say about it,_ she thought.

Azula just shrugged, hmmed and snapped the lid on her lip paint.


	18. Liar Liar

Innocent people do not lie, or so they say.

Azula could not agree nor disagree with that statement. She always lied and she rarely was innocent, although she would call her pursuit of her _own child_ something like innocence. The tears were fake and none of the words true but she shed and spoke them with such conviction that she knew she would win. She could see it in their faces.

Then a dear, darling, old _friend,_ now a witness, took to the stands and took her by surprise.

Why, oh why, did she not tell Ty Lee she loved her a few extra times?

It would have been wise and the truth was overrated anyway.

The room was set up so that the eight tribunal judges could loom over everyone else. It was supposed to be intimidating, but Azula was not afraid.

They needed to deem if she was a danger to society, far more than they needed to decide what to do about her kidnapping Princess Izumi. They needed to decide if she was trustworthy or not, far more than they needed to apply the law to the abduction of the heir to the throne.

It smelled like cheap incense in the room, and the walls were an ugly rust hue. Azula started to forget it as she pressed her sweaty palms down against the smooth table before her. Beside her sat Zuko, and he seemed to be fighting in her favor for reasons unknown. She anticipated sabotage.

"Why are you not up there as a judge?" she demanded.

"Because I'm not impartial. This is supposed to be a fair trial, isn't it?"

Azula scoffed. "You're Fire Lord. You can do what you want."

"Not anymore. And I made it that way, so don't think I regret the new justice system. It involves a little more _justice_ than the old one."

Azula brushed him off and pursed her lips. Her mouth tasted strongly of copper and she did not know why. Maybe she was nervous or angry or any other nasty emotion.

It took her a few moments giving her case, getting choked up, doing as she should, to know she had sealed an optimistic fate for herself.

The first witness they thought would crush her almost made her laugh. Were these people so blind? Ty Lee sat up there, her hair twisted so attractively, her eyes so beautiful, her everything as gorgeous as it was mere hours before. If they thought Ty Lee would bring Azula down, they were sorely, sorely mistaken.

The tribunal was unaware that they had sex not long ago—in that cell stripped bare in a sort of love perhaps—and Ty Lee all but renounced Zuko in the subtext. She even visited her a few hours ago. Azula had absolute faith that Ty Lee was going to get her liberated.

Oh, how she hated being wrong.

"I… in the years after the war…" Ty Lee blushed and sweated and Azula held onto hope. "In the years after the war I met up with Azula in secret. More than once. So many times. More times than I can count. I loved her, okay? I loved her so much and I let her… I let her in. I know her well. I knew her before she crashed back into the palace and my life, and I know her now. If… if you think she's not playing you, you're… you're wrong. That's how she's always been and she might… she might act like her losses humbled her but they never did."

"You met up with Princess Azula?" asked the judge sitting in the center, her tone serious but her scarred expression severe.

"Yes," said Ty Lee.

The ugly judge continued, "Can you describe the nature of these meetings?"

"Uh. _Romantic_." Ty Lee shook her head. "Sort of romantic. I thought they were romantic, but later I found out she was using me. She told me that when she left Iz—when she left for the last time."

"That is a lie!" Azula stood and her hands almost lit against her will. She was lucky she was not smoking, else she might truly lose the trial.

Zuko grabbed Azula by the arm, dragged her back down to her uncomfortable seat, and whispered, "Calm down. Please. I want you to win."

 _That is a lie too_ , Azula wanted to scream. She could not stand him, could not stand Ty Lee, found all of this unbearable and almost regretted her decision to return home.

"She told you that she was… playing you?" The final two words were odd in the grey-haired woman's mouth.

"Yes. And she came back for something. I don't know what, but she should be locked up. She came back and kidnapped my child and I think everybody is kind of ignoring that because she's promising she changed. She told me that too. We had more romantic meetings. I hate to admit that in front of my husband but—"

"Also a lie!"

" _Azula_. Do you want freedom or not?" Zuko hissed, glancing over his shoulder. Azula thought for certain he was only saying these things to protect his reputation, not to protect her.

Ty Lee gave a sob Azula knew was just as fake as her own tears. "But I need to make sure she doesn't hurt my little girl again."

Azula was agape, her expression one few had ever seen on her face. She did not know who could blame her.

It was ever so fun to be consistently betrayed by the one person she ever truly loved.

* * *

 _The first time Ty Lee ever saw Azula, she knew she was in love. No, she did not_ know _it, but she did in hindsight. She saw this girl with her crown and her smirk and her heart pounded in a way it never had before in her life._

 _If that was not love…_

 _Or at least a first crush._

 _Maybe it was something in between._

 _The first time Ty Lee ever noticed how she looked at Azula, she realized painfully that she was in love. Not one of the flirtations, not one of the crushes, not one of the boyfriends that amounted to little more than a few hand-holds in hallways._

 _She was in love with her enough to fight in a war. In love with her enough to let her get away with anything and still gaze at her as if she were perpetually wreathed in sunlight._

 _"_ _People who fight alone die," said Azula and Ty Lee nodded. She knew it was supposed to be encouraging, and she knew it was solely about the war, but she wanted it to be something._

 _Because Ty Lee knew she was afraid of being alone, living alone, walking the Earth alone. If she lost Azula or Mai or anyone, she would not be able to reignite her soul._

 _The first time Ty Lee ever admitted Azula was not in love with her the same way, she decided she was going to sever her heartstrings and let it burn. That did not work. It was on a sunny afternoon in one of their hiding places after an overcomplicated scavenger hunt that played the music of the siren's song._

 _"_ _You don't love me, do you?" Ty Lee asked, wringing her hands and toying with her clothes._

 _"_ _We don't love each other and we never did. Things would be very different it we did," said Azula. Ty Lee did not argue._

 _She wanted to believe the princess._

 _Maybe that would make it easier to at last let her go._

* * *

Ty Lee had to do it. She _knew_ she had to do it.

She had to be honest about at least one thing. The lies ate her up inside like a strong acid, consuming her tissue, bones, blood, soul. It was too late to change that, but maybe it was not too late to explain at least one thing to her princess.

All Ty Lee could do was walk down that cold, dimly lit hallway. Step in front of her, bars separating them. Gaze briefly into eyes burning with fiery hatred. Earned hatred. Ty Lee deserved it, even if she knew she made the correct choice.

"What is it?" demanded Azula, clenching her fist. Her nails painfully dug into her palm and she treasured the sensation.

"I…" Ty Lee's heart sank into her stomach. "I have to tell you something."

"Spit it out," Azula coldly ordered. "I am honestly tired of whatever we are doing. You have proven where your loyalties lie and I have no interest in you any longer."

The silence stretched for miles and miles. Finally, Ty Lee managed to summon some bravery and confess.

"You were right when you said I always loved you. And like an idiot I love you," said Ty Lee. "I've loved you since the moment I met you."

Azula frowned. She did not have the patience for this. They kept spinning in an eternal dance, held between worlds, between lives, between possibilities, too caught up in other things to move. Edging closer like they did, smashing against the walls of a cell naked to Azula sitting and watching Ty Lee singlehandedly doom her to eternal imprisonment.

"I kind of thought you were developing some feelings for my brother, especially with how you treated me in that room," spat Azula, clenching her fists tighter. She did not know it was possible to have every muscle be as tense as hers were now.

Ty Lee stammered, shaking her head, tears brimming in her eyes, "No. I never did—never did love Zuko, I mean, I swear that, I promise that. I—I always loved you. I really, really love you."

"Such a shame," scoffed Azula, shooting Ty Lee a loathing partial smirk. "Take this back. They will never let me keep it, just like they will never let me keep my daughter because of you."

"Is it even about Sparrowkeet? I think the reason nobody wants you anywhere near her is because we don't want her to get hur—"

"I would never hurt her!" screamed Azula and the guards tensed. "I don't know why you would even _think_ I would _hurt her_!"

"I don't mean it that way. I mean it like… I mean it like it's really hard to tell what's true and real with you and… and it's hard to tell if there's something else you want. It's hard to believe that you'd go so far just to be with the baby you gave up."

"You have never been in my position. None of you have. How could you possibly comprehend what it feels like?"

"I guess… I guess we can't." Ty Lee blushed. Azula gritted her teeth and avoided the urge to strangle Ty Lee to death. It would be very satisfying after that first day of the trial. "Azula, though, Azula, listen. I want you, but I don't want you anywhere near her. That's what I want, and I guess it's not what you want."

Azula knew in her heart, deep within, that Ty Lee spoke of something perpetually true in their relationship. Then again, it was not something that only applied to the two of them; few people wanted the same thing at the same time.

"For once," coolly said Azula, locking eyes with the frightened Ty Lee, "you say something that makes sense. We cannot be together and I am done acting like we can. Do not visit me again."

Ty Lee took one step backwards. Two. Three. Four.

Then she was out the door.

Azula gazed after her and bit back tears.

 _Good_ , she told herself.

* * *

Azula would admit she gave her accomplice exactly no thought. She paid Mai's involvement in the abduction of Princess Izumi no mind. Yet, she supposed she did know at all times that if they went down they were going down together.

It was almost sweet, after their bitter and sour history.

At the moment, she was forced to face Mai as they sat shackled side by side in a cell. They were contained together as Mai's role in the trial rapidly approached.

After the time they spent together by the sea, Azula felt oddly comfortable divulging her distress over Ty Lee's earlier actions.

"She just, just, just stood up there and lied," Azula snapped. "I don't know why I ever thought she was worth having as a friend—or as anything more, for that matter."

"She did kinda betray you and perjured herself to do it, which is kind of impressive. Maybe she's not your real friend, like you thought. True friends stab you in the front," said Mai.

"Like you would?" Azula made a point of rolling her eyes.

"Probably, yes. At some point in the future, at least. But I don't think a stab wound is enough to kill the Grand Princess Azula, is it?"

"Probably, yes." Azula sighed. "She went up there and lied. And then she decided to tell me she loved me, which is the ultimate mixed message."

"Loving the taste of your own medicine, princess?"

"The taste of my _what_?"

"You sent her a _lot_ of mixed messages in the past. She's not even smart enough to avoid being extremely confused by you."

"She's assured enough to say—say awful things just to keep me imprisoned. Can you believe that?"

"Yes."

"How? I thought she was loyal." Azula felt like a fool even admitting it, but Mai gave no reaction. At least Azula could always count on that.

"That's unfortunate, isn't it? I'm going to tell you something I never said when we were hiding. You deserve anything that girl does to you."

"I don't deserve to be—to have her _lie—_ to have her say she loves me then does something awful to me!"

"You don't see the parallels here? That's what you do to everyone in your life. Not to mention the fact that you lied on the stands to protect yourself."

"I'm so sick of people saying I _deserve_ what happens to me! I don't! It is never my fault and I am not responsible for anything _she_ does or _you do_ or my brother does!"

"You kind of left her high and dry with Izumi. You slept with her, gave her your newborn baby, then disappeared for years."

"Then why did you help me? If you hate me so much and find me undeserving of my own child, why did you help me?"

Mai was silent for some time. Azula did not expect an answer.

"It was an impulse. You said you were kidnapping a child and running off to your lair and I wanted to go along for the ride. I wanted to…"

"Use me to feel alive somehow?"

"I wouldn't go that deep. I didn't have anything else to do."

Azula did not buy it, but she did not have it in her to protest. She was tired of arguing with people she had no reason to trust. People who fooled her twice and ruined her life twice. Perhaps more than that, if she put more thought into it.

But the silence killed her.

"Nothing else to do? You decided to commit a horrid crime with strong punishment because you didn't have anything else to do?"

Maybe the silence this time was less painful because Azula would have the last word.

"The way you talked about it, the passion you had, it was tempting. Maybe there's a reason she keeps coming back to you, or a reason Zuko keeps trying to fix you no matter how many times you burn him. Why people will turn on their own nation because you ask nicely. If you weren't… if you didn't lose it, I would've followed you to my death and that's frightening, isn't it?"

"It is not anything practiced or anything intentional."

"Does it have to be?"

Azula stated clinically, staring at her hands, "Things not practiced or intended should not be effective."

Mai almost laughed, but caught herself at the precipice. "By that you mean you don't want things you have no control over to be successful. Spirits, that's the kind of shit that makes me hate you."

Coldly, Azula replied, "Maybe you have a point. Maybe not."

The disgraced Princess Azula said no more.

She stared at the shackles on her wrists and ankles.

Mai told her only what she already knew.


End file.
